BEAVER CREEK — The Austrian men didn’t get off to a great start on the World Cup this season, but everyone knew they were bound to unleash an overpowering performance sooner or later.
It came like an avalanche Monday in a super-G on Beaver Creek’s Birds of Prey, when the country that invented alpine skiing put four racers in the top six and reminded everyone the “Power Team” is never down for long. Hannes Reichelt won for the second year in a row here, but by only .02 of a second over teammate Mario Scheiber. Christoph Gruber made it a podium sweep for the Austrians, who once took the top nine positions in a World Cup super-G.
“Skiing is the No. 1 sport in Austria, so we are a little bit under pressure — or we were under pressure the last two weeks,” said Michael Walchhofer, who won Friday’s downhill and tied teammate Benjamin Raich for fifth Monday. “Now the Austrian ski fans can be happy.”
Raich, the 2006 World Cup overall champion, is third in the standings behind Daniel Albrecht and Didier Cuche of Switzerland. Raich conceded it can be a “national problem” in Austria when the ski team isn’t in its customary position of dominance.
“It’s true, but we can just try all the time our best, and to hold a good atmosphere and belief,” Raich said.
Reichelt welcomed the renewal of a rivalry with the Swiss that diminished in recent years when the Swiss struggled.
“It’s going again,” Reichelt said. “A lot of years ago, the competition between Swiss and Austria was really high. Now it starts again. It’s beautiful because the sport needs a lot of winners to be interesting.”
Albrecht was the only non-Austrian in the top six, finishing fourth. Austria had three more in the top 16.
Ted Ligety was the top American, finishing 23rd for his best World Cup super-G finish. The Olympic combined champion primarily races slalom, giant slalom and select combined races. Combined is made up of downhill and slalom, but Ligety had raced only one World Cup downhill and three combined downhills before he won his Olympic gold in 2006. Monday marked his fourth super-G start — and his second finish.
“It’s so much fun,” Ligety said of super-G. “It’s definitely out of my comfort zone for sure, not having trained it very often and raced it very often. It’s really cool to get in the starting gate and push my limits.”
The result gave Ligety his first World Cup points in super-G, meaning he now has scored in all four disciplines.
“It’s a really technical super-G,” Ligety said. “My top pitch was good. On the bottom flat I lost a little time here and there, but otherwise I’m pretty happy with it.”
Bode Miller’s streak of reaching the podium here three consecutive years ended when he finished 30th, although he had a reasonable excuse Monday. Miller hit a rock executing his first turn on the course, peeling back the inside edge on the front of his right ski. Without an edge, a skier has almost no control with that ski.
“I almost stopped,” Miller said. “I just sat back on one ski and tried to hang on with the other. You just don’t want to hurt yourself.”
John Meyer: 303-954-1616 or jmeyer@denverpost.com
