Dead Heat - Cam Alexander Shares Win With Niels Hintermann In Kvitfjell DH
The Olympiabakken track was perfectly prepared and held up for the entire field, giving several guys in the back of the pack a unique opportunity to move up. In what was a thrilling race to watch, five athletes out of the top 30 landed in the top 20—most notably including Canada’s Cameron Alexander coming from bib 39 to tie Swiss Niels Hintermann for first with a time of 1:44.42. Austria’s Matthias Mayer was off the pace by .12 seconds. A mere 1.10 seconds separated first place from 20th.
In only his third start of the World Cup season after sitting out several races rehabilitating an injury, Cam Alexander (North Vancouver, B.C.) silenced any doubts, landing on the podium in a tie for first place with Niels Hintermann (SUI). Both men laid down a blistering time of 1:44.42 with Matthias Mayer (AUT) rounding out the top three in bronze only 0.12 off the pace. The top trio Matthias Mayer, Beat Feuz and Aleksander Kilde took 3rd, 4th and 5th place.
Located 45 minutes outside of Lillehammer, Kvitfjell usually holds good luck for Canadians; former Canadian Cowboy and alpine racing legend Erik Guay won the downhill in 2014, and Alexander himself placed 10th for his previous personal best in 2020 in his debut World Cup season. This race marks Alexander’s first podium in only his 14th World Cup start, after kicking out for the first time on home soil in Lake Louise in 2019.
"I know I can ski fast here; I know I have speed... all I had to do was just let go and try to give it my best,” says Alexander of his win today. “That’s what I did and what do you know! I'm on top of the podium. It's surprising but at the same time this is what I do the sport for — it feels really good."
"It felt very good the entire way," said Niels Hintermann after the race. «The ski pulled everywhere. But I would not have thought that I was so fast. But I was hoping that it would at least be a top five place."
"Racing here after winning in the Europa Cup gave Cam a big boost of confidence,” says Canadian head coach Mark Tilston. “He crashed in Lake Louise [this season] and that dropped his confidence, which was compounded with coming back from injury. He worked so diligently through his rehab. These guys, this team, they all work so hard and stay focused on what they are trying to achieve.”
Ryan Cochran-Siegle led the Americans in the first of two Kvitfjell, Norway FIS Ski World Cup downhills on Friday, landing in 11th. Travis Ganong was just four hundredths behind Cochran-Siegle in 12th, Steven Nyman was 18th, and Jared Goldberg was 20th.
Cochran-Siegle, who is fresh off a super-G silver medal at Beijing 2022, had a solid run to lead the Americans into the points. When asked about the surprise results in the race, Cochran-Siegle said, “That’s Kvitfjell for you,"
