Aleksander Aamodt Kilde claims another World Cup downhill win in Beaver Creek despite flu

Aleksander Aamodt Kilde won the downhill at Beaver Creek in the FIS World Cup on Saturday.

Kilde secured the win despite a difficulty posed by a health problem that was revealed after the action was completed in the United States.

Friday’s action for the men was cancelled as a result of heavy snowfall and strong winds, and there were concerns on Saturday that the event would not be completed with every competitor getting a run.

Race organisers attempted to keep the time between runners to a minimum with the weather threatening to obscure visibility too much for the race to continue.

However, despite those worries, the race was completed and the Norwegian secured victory with a time of 1:42.09.

Marco Odermatt – a winner at last week’s Super G at Lake Louise a little further north in Canada – was seen as a favourite before the event, but he came in 0.06 seconds behind his rival, leaving the Swiss in second place.

Third place on the podium went to Canada’s James Crawford, 0.79s behind the leader.

Out of 63 entrants, there was a single athlete from the United Kingdom. However, Roy-Alexander Steudle completed just two sectors before he had to abandon his run, finishing last as one of three who ended the day with a DNF.

After the event was completed, Kilde revealed that he was unsure how or if he would be able to properly compete as he was suffering from flu. He was nevertheless able to conserve his energy, perhaps aided by Friday’s abandoned action, in order to race to the win.

Attention turns to Sunday’s giant slalom, with Odermatt seen as the favourite again, and Kilde looking visibly concerned by his fitness after he expressed worries over his bout of flu despite winning his second downhill of the season.

Kilde focuses on the super-G and downhill events so he may be considered more of an outsider when it comes to Sunday as other specialists come to their preferred event. However with a decade of experience on the circuit he could still spring a surprise.