It was gray day for the U.S. Ski Team here in Kitzbuehel today. And it was especially frustrating for US hopeful Daron Rahlves who had been confident coming into this famed Hahnenkamm downhill on the fabled Streif course.

Rahlves (Sugar Bowl, CA), who finished an impressive 4th in Friday's super G, gambled on a new line through the Steilhang and crashed into the netting as Austrian Stephan Eberharter took the win in 1:54.21. Jake Fiala (Breckenridge, CO) was the top American in 29th place.

"I wanted to ski a cocky line today (through the Steilhang) and ski it cocky," said Rahlves. "I guess we were going a little faster coming in there today, then I hit the road and hit the fence. But I would rather crash than not go fast."

Due to his smaller size, Rahlves wanted to ski a different line than some of the heavier racers in order to keep as much speed as possible through the Steilhang, a steep section just 500 meters into the 3,300-meter course.

Rahlves was bumped and banged around on the hard, icy track coming through the Steilhang, then got wide to the left -- as many racers did -- and hit the fencing, losing both of his Atomic skis and bending one badly.

He later skied down under his own power, but picked up too much speed off the Zielschuss jump at the bottom and lost a ski coming into the finish area.

Eberharter was the clear pre-race favorite and he gave the 50,000 Austrian fans everything they bargained for, winning by .37 over the incomparable Kjetil Andre Aamodt of Norway, who will likely dominate in the combined downhill-slalom scoring Sunday.

Fiala had his second World Cup point-scoring finish of the season, but was left disappointed.

"My goal had been a top-20," said the Breckenridge ski racer. "I skied the top way better and, down here, where I've skied top-10 all week, it was awful. It's a fine line, just pushing too hard today and I tried to get away with too much. [On] some key sections, like Steilhang, I got too low and down here just fighting in places where you have to pick up speed. It's a tough hill and if you score points here, it's sweet. I would have liked to have done better, but it's still better than in the past."

Despite getting his first Hahnenkamm finish with a 47th, Scott Macartney (Redmond, WA) was the most disappointed racer of the day.

"My goal had been a top-30, and that was realistic after I was 35th in training," said Macartney, who celebrated his 24th birthday Saturday. "I thought I could just clean up some stuff and I could do it."

While many rookies look at their first time getting down the Streif as a success in and of itself, this is not true for Macartney. He refused to latch onto the rationalization that finishing was a success -- "I guess I don't want to use those excuses for myself!"

Hahnenkamm weekend wraps up Sunday with the slalom, in which Bode Miller will lead a talented group of six U.S. skiers into the race. Miller, with two World Cup wins, along with Chip Knight (New Canaan, CT) and Casey Puckett (Aspen, CO), with two top-20 World Cup finishes, are in the lead for Olympic selection. Sacha Gros (Vail, CO), Erik Schlopy (Park City, UT) and Tom Rothrock (Cashmere, WA) are battling for the remaining Olympic spot with only Sunday's Kitzbuehel slalom and the Schladming night slalom Tuesday left before the Games.

Rahlves and the speed crew will now head for Garmisch-Partenkirchen for a pair of super G's next weekend, the final events in the Olympic selection period. Rahlves is the only U.S. man who has met Olympic qualifying criteria with his fourth in Kitzbuehel on Friday.

"I'm ready (for the Olympics) right now," said Rahlves. "I'm just looking forward to some more super G's and some more racing. I just want to get out there and have some fun."

— Courtesy, US Ski Team