The China Mail - Odermatt seeks first Kitzbuehel victory with eye on Olympics

The Austrian resort's Hahnenkamm races are widely regarded as not only the most prestigious but also the most testing of the circuit.

Just two weeks out from the Winter Games in Milan, athletes battle down a 860m vertical drop over the 3.3km Streif course, negotiating 80m-long jumps, mastering gradients of up to 85% on the notorious Mausefalle and topping speeds of 140km/h (87mph).

There are 17km of safety nets erected on the iconic piste and 180 impact-protection mats are strategically placed down the icy slope, which has been the scene of some gruesome crashes over the years.

"I was scared out of my wits," said Austria's long-retired Fritz Strobl of his record-setting Kitzbuehel descent in 1min 51.58sec in 1997 -- his average speed was an astonishing 106.9km/h.

That time could finally be under threat. In-form Italian Giovanni Franzoni clocked an electric 1:52.21 in the second training run on Wednesday after also topping the first run 24 hours earlier.

"He could be sweating on Saturday," Austrian Vincent Kriechmayr, a previous winner in Kitzbuehel and one of the pre-race favourites, said of Strobl.

"Franzoni was certainly skiing at the limit, he always skis at the limit. But he also still has reserves, you improve with each race."

Franzoni finished 10th in the super-G and 14th in the downhill on his Kitzbuehel debut last season.

"I think it's actually my favourite slope," the 24-year-old Italian said.

Franzoni notched up his first World Cup victory when he won in Wengen last weekend, Odermatt rebounding to register a record fourth downhill victory on home snow a day later.

Odermatt, the defending four-time overall World Cup champion who also tops this season's standings, might have 52 World Cup victories to his name, but the 28-year-old has never won in Kitzbuehel.

The Swiss racer hit a top speed of 149.65km/h in Wengen and promised there was more of that to come.

"That's racing, if you don't take the risk, you cannot win races at this level," said the reigning Olympic giant slalom champion who is also a three-time world gold medallist.

- Gruelling schedule -

Former Swiss racer Beat Feuz, the Olympic downhill champion in Beijing four years ago and a three-time winner on the Streif -- including once ahead of Odermatt in 2022 -- said the World Cup "dominator" needs to "show what he's capable of".

"Aim for nothing more and nothing less," Feuz said. "Because if he delivers on his potential, not many will stand a chance."

Odermatt and the rest of the 60-plus field will have their work cut out with back-to-back super-G and downhill races on Friday and Saturday, with a slalom scheduled for Sunday.

The 86th running of the downhill, which made its debut in 1931, will see racers kick out of the start gate into a vertiginous descent, reach 100km/h in the first five seconds and battle centrifugal forces of up to 3.1G.

Racers are again vying for prize money of 101,000 euros ($118,000) per event, part of a one-million-euro pot on offer for three days of racing.

One absentee, however, will be Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, who has been ruled out with a "kink in his back", according to the Norwegian ski federation.

Kilde, who is the partner of star US skier Mikaela Shiffrin, suffered a serious fall in Wengen in January 2024 which left him needing multiple surgeries.

He made his return in Copper Mountain in November, but the federation said the latest injury was caused by "an overload".

"Aleksander will remain in Kitzbuehel for rehabilitation, and we'll take it day by day," said team manager Michael Rottensteiner.

Programme (all times GMT, subject to change)

Friday: super-G (1030)

Saturday: downhill (1030)

Sunday: slalom (0930+1230)

E.Lau--ThChM