Erik Guay places 5th in men's World Cup downhill
Norway’s Lund Svindal earns 1st career win at classic Val Gardena race
Canadian skier Erik Guay continues to make strides during his comeback season.
Guay finished fifth in the men's World Cup downhill race in Val Gardena, Italy on Saturday. The Mont-Tremblant, Que., veteran crossed the line in a time of one minute, 55.70 seconds.
Guay finished 10th last month in the downhill race in Lake Louise, Alta. It was his first race back in 20 months following knee surgery.
Aksel Lund Svindal, who has won the Val Gardena super-G on four occasions, finally won the classic Val Gardena downhill for the first time in his career in a race that may be better remembered for a safety air bag inflating in the crash of Olympic champion Matthias Mayer.
Svindal clocked at 1:54.80 down the Saslong course for a 0.43 advantage over Guillermo Fayed of France.
"I've been trying to win this for a lot of years," Svindal said. "It was perfect conditions today and that's the way you want to race."
Svindal's Norwegian teammate Kjetil Jansrud finished third, 0.46 behind.
North Vancouver's Manuel Osborne-Paradis finished 12th in 1:56.24, while Jeffrey Frisch, of Mont-Tremblant, Que., placed 33rd at 1:57.26.
Mayer airlifted to local hospital
Mayer was having a solid run until he lost control and spun around, flying down the hill backward, then landed hard on his right side. After receiving medical attention on the slope he was airlifted to a hospital in Bolzano.
Manufacturer Dainese said it was the first time an air bag was inflated during a World Cup race and International Ski Federation technical expert Gunter Hujara said that the device may have saved Mayer from serious injury.
"A crash can never be something favourable," Hujara said. "[But] maybe we have seen here he was saved from a spine injury today."
It was difficult to notice the air bag inflating because the vest-like device is worn under skier's suits.
Austrian winter sports federation director Hans Pum reported that Mayer had only a big bruise.
"It proved the air bag has an important place in speed skiing," Pum said.
With files from The Associated Press