Beat Feuz wins the boys’s downhill by a tenth of a second.

Beat Feuz of Switzerland, a 34-year-old brawny downhill specialist whose profession was threatened by a severe knee damage a decade in the past, gained the Olympic males’s downhill on Monday on the Nationwide Alpine Heart in Yanqing.

Feuz, who gained two Alpine medals on the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, has had a powerful season this winter with a victory within the famed Hahnenkamm downhill at Kitzbuhel, Austria, final month. He additionally had two different podium finishes in World Cup velocity races.

Feuz’s time of 1 minute 42.69 seconds was a tenth of a second forward of silver medalist Johan Clarey of Canada and 16 hundredths of a second forward of Matthias Mayer of Austria, who gained the occasion on the 2014 Sochi Video games. Clarey, 41, is now the oldest Alpine Olympic medalist. The document had been held by Bode Miller, who was 36 when he gained a bronze medal within the super-G on the 2014 Olympics.

It was the primary Olympic downhill victory for Feuz, who as soon as dominated World Cup downhills and gained 4 season-long titles within the self-discipline. He additionally missed a number of seasons in his 20s as he weathered debilitating accidents to his left knee, together with an an infection that made amputation a chance. However Feuz has rallied since 2017, and his perseverance and later profession successes have made him a well-liked determine on the World Cup circuit.

Because the thirteenth racer out of the gate, Feuz navigated the various snaking turns of the racecourse, referred to as “The Rock” as a result of it’s carved out of a mountain ridge that resembles a knife’s edge. Feuz was quickest within the steep, turny pitch to begin the race, and though he misplaced a while within the part generally known as the Silk Highway and soared a bit recklessly off the perilous Sugar Leap, he started to construct velocity confidently although the slender curler coaster bends of the Canyon phase of the observe to catch Mayer, who had led the race since beginning because the ninth racer.

Feuz additionally conquered a racecourse that was largely an unknown to the world’s prime downhill skiers. It was in-built the previous few years expressly for the Beijing Olympics, and whereas it’s typical for brand spanking new venues to have a number of take a look at occasions for racers to familiarize themselves with the course, these races have been by no means held due to pandemic restrictions.

In two coaching runs earlier than Monday’s downhill, skiers struggled to discover a rhythm and infrequently flew too far off blind jumps of their path. High winds added to the inherent hazard and canceled the final, and normally most vital, coaching session.

The highest American finisher was Ryan Cochran-Siegle, who was 14th.