(Reuters) – Switzerland’s Justin Murisier kicked off the speed season in style as he edged pre-race favourite Marco Odermatt to win the men’s downhill at the formidable Birds of Prey track in Beaver Creek, Colorado, on Friday for his first World Cup victory.
Murisier clocked a time of one minute, 40.04 seconds to beat fellow Swiss and three-time reigning World Cup overall champion Odermatt by 0.20 seconds. Slovenia’s Miha Hrobat finished third for his first World Cup podium.
“It’s amazing, I’ve dreamed of this for many years,” said Murisier. “I had so many … injuries and surgeries that I was almost not dreaming anymore of this, so it’s so nice to achieve it now and even more on such a nice course.”
Murisier was the third skier out of the starting hut in the opening World Cup downhill race of the season and after setting the early pace in perfect conditions nervously waited at the bottom for the rest of the 60-man field to challenge.
Odermatt, who also won the downhill, super-G and giant slalom titles last season, threatened Murisier’s lead but the Swiss standout was unable to match his compatriot’s pace at the bottom and settled for a disappointing runner-up.
It marked another Beaver Creek downhill runner-up finish for Odermatt, who also finished second to Norway’s Aleksander Kilde in 2022. Kilde announced in October he would miss the World Cup season due to an ongoing shoulder issue.
Vincent Kriechmayr, who finished second in the downhill at Beaver Creek in 2019, clocked the fastest time in training on Thursday but the Austrian settled for fifth place.
The race was interrupted for nearly 20 minutes after Swiss skier Arnaud Boisset crashed and was tended to before being taking off the mountain on a sled. American Samuel Dupratt, the penultimate competitor, also needed to be taken away on a sled after crashing.
The event marked a World Cup return to the Birds of Prey track for the first time since 2022 as challenging weather forced the cancellation of last year’s event.
The action at Beaver Creek resumes on Saturday with a super-G followed by giant slalom on Sunday.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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