Austrian Stephan Eberharter, in what he says will be his final season of racing, took the air out of a bid by Daron Rahlves (Sugar Bowl, CA) for a second straight Hahnenkamm downhill win Saturday with a nearly flawless run that brought victory by more than a second. Eberharter won the 64th Hahnenkamm in 1:55.48 with Rahlves on the podium for the third straight day, finishing second; Bode Miller (Franconia, NH) tied for 16th and Jake Fiala (Frisco, CO) was 29th.

Rahlves, The Green Mountain Valley School (VT) grad who won Friday's super G and was third Thursday in a make-up downhill, led every timing interval as he came down the 3.3K course. But the popular Californian's leading time of 1:56.69, which sent the crowd of upwards of 100,000 into screams of delight and horn-blaring, lasted just one more runner.

Austrian Michael Walchhofer, skiing 29th, was next and he finished more than a half-second back of Rahlves, who collected his third podium in 48 hours.

Rahlves: "I give [Eberharter] my hand..."
And then Eberharter, the 2002 Hahnenkamm champ who lost Thursday's DH by.01 to Norwegian Lasse Kjus, mauled the Streif for the 27th victory of his career...and the festive crowd went into greater gales of jubilation. The Hahnenkamm is ski racing's unrivaled Super Bowl and an Austrian had won it one more time!

"I had the run I wanted," Rahlves said, "and Steph just had a great one; I respect what he did so much. We've had some close races and I just give him my hand. He did a great job."

Eberharter, who has won the last two World Cup overall, DH and super G titles, had planned to retire after last season but decided to return for one more winter of racing. His racing intensity and his off-course demeanor make him not only one of the most respected but one of the most popular athletes on the tour.

Rahlves said when he got the finish as the leader, he tried to savor the moment because he knew "there still were two big guys to come."

After surviving Walchhofer's run, he watched on the big screen in the finish as Eberharter tore out of the start and began overwhelming the course.

No second-guessing his run by Rahlves
"I saw his first split time come up and I started laughing," Rahlves said. "He obviously skied well, then crushed the flats. It was his day."

For his part, though, Rahlves had no regrets.

"When you go start to finish as hard as you can - and I did...well...every time I closed my eyes and thought how I wanted to ski this hill, I did it the way I wanted today," he told a press conference.

Last fall, Rahlves said one of his goals for the season was to reach a super G podium, which he accomplished with the sixth win of his career Friday. Eberharter's victory Saturday, Rahlves said chuckling, gives him optimism because Eberharter's "an old man" at 34 and at 30, he said, "I have a few more years to do that."

He saluted the Austrian for his relentless graciousness on top of his impressive skiing talents.

His three podiums in 48 hours lifted Rahlves into seventh place at 556 points in the overall points behind Kjus (764) with Miller just five points farther back in eighth.

McBride: "Eberharter's a great champion"
U.S. DH/SG Head Coach John McBride echoed his podium performer: "Stephan's a great champion. I don't know what Daron could've done today to beat him. 'D' had a great run but Stephan really nailed it. There's no arrogance in him, he's always there to congratulate you when you do better, such a good sportsman, especially when things don't go well for him...

"It's been a heckuva three days. D did a great job again today, especially on those midsection flats," the coach said. "Bode didn't own the top the way he did Thursday but he's skiing well and Jake made a couple of mistakes but scored some points, which is progress and he seems to be getting back on track."

Bryon Friedman (Park City, UT) missed the race after crashing into safety netting Friday in the super G. McBride said he suffered a concussion but was expected back next weekend in Garmisch-Partenkirchen where the men face two downhills (one from Wengen, Switzerland) and a super G.

The men complete their Hahnenkamm weekend Sunday with a slalom leading to the second combined calculation of the winter. They move on to Schladming, Austria, for the annual Tuesday night slalom and then head to Garmisch.

MEN'S ALPINE WORLD CUP
64th Hahnenkamm
Hahnenkamm Downhill

1. Stephan Eberharter, 1:55.48
2. Daron Rahlves, Sugar Bowl, Calif., 1:56.69
3. Ambrosi Hoffmann, Switzerland, 1:56.78
4. Hans Knauss, Austria, 1:57.23
5. Michael Walchhofer, Austria, 1:57.26 Ê

16T. Bode Miller, Franconia, N.H., 1:58.02
29. Jake Fiala, Frisco, Colo., 1:59.22

— Courtesy of US Ski Team