Austrian Winner Hans Knauss

The Famed Hahenkamm Downhill
Austria's Hans Knauss achieved his greatest performance ever by beating all the favorites on the legendary "Hahnenkamm" downhill course in Kitzbühel in front of 50,000 spectators. This is the last speed race prior the World Championships next week in Vail, CO.

Knauss, the 1998 silver medal winner in super-G, finished ahead of two teammates after an aggressive finale. After being plagued by a series of injuries this past year, Peter Rzehak (AUT) came back to an impressive 2nd place at 15/100 of a second off Knauss' winning time and Werner Franz finished 3rd, as he did in yesterday's 2-run sprint downhill, narrowly at 17/100.

"I knew that I had to try harder than ever today, but I didn't expect such a result. I fought all along the course, I had a wild run..." — Hans Knauss (AUT)

Knauss, who finished 3rd last week at Wengen on the "Lauberhorn" downhill, has made great progress in downhill this season. He is a four-time winner in giant slalom and super-G in the past four years. His 3rd place at Wengen boosted his moral and gave him a new motivation. Since he had not yet secured a place on Austria's team for next week's World Championships, he had no other choice than take all risks in this downhill to grab his last chance for Vail. He was only 16th the previous day.

"I knew that I had to try harder than ever today, but I didn't expect such a result," he said at the finish line. "I fought all along the course, I had a wild run...I will never forget this day, it's a dream for each Austrian racer to win this competition. And there was such a crowd, it's just unbelievable."

	Peter Rzehak (AUT) 2nd place

Norway's Lasse Kjus, who clinched yesterday's two-run downhill, had to be content with 4th place at only 1/100 away from the podium. He made more mistakes than usual this time on the final technical part of the treacherous "Streif." Austria's Hermann Maier took a promising 8th place in his first race down this spectacular slope, keeping the lead in the overall World Cup standings in front of Kjus. But the Scandinavian Kjus, favorite for the Hahnenkamm combined, could pass Maier if he repeats his slalom performance from Wengen where he finished 3rd.

Italy's Kristian Ghedina, the winner here in 1998, was a distant 5th and Kjetil Aamodt, 2nd in Friday's two-run downhill, finished 7th. Daron Rahlves was again the best US skier in 21st place. Chad Fleischer, who crashed on Friday, did not start this time. Switzerland's Bruno Kernen crashed at the last "Hausberg" jump but didn't hurt himself.

	Austrian Podium

Kjus knew where he lost this race and he tried to remain positive. "I'm not really surprised," he said. "I knew that I would have a hard time to be at the top again. It's tough to lose this great race by only a few tenths, but I must be satisfied by my great season. The most important races are still to come."

In 1994 and 1997, Kjus clinched the titles in the Kitzbühel combined event and he finished several times on the podium afterwards. Knauss' victory will create some tension within the Austrian team. A dozen Austrian skiers deserve to compete in the Ski World Championships in Vail, but only four can start. The fight for the qualification will be tough. Hermann Maier and Hans Knauss, who have both won races this season, should have secured their position. But Stephan Eberharter, Werner Franz, Fritz Strobl, Hannes Trinkl and Andreas Schifferer, the defending World Cup downhill champion, will have to race to qualify for a spot on the team before the real race.

In tomorrow's slalom, 30,000 spectators will be cheering on Austria's new star, Benjamin Raich, who is aiming for his fourth season win on the most demanding slalom course of the winter.

— Mountain Zone European Correspondent