WENGEN, Switzerland (AP) — It is never easy for Switzerland to watch an Austrian downhiller win its signature ski race that is part of the Alpine nation’s culture.
It was even harder to take Saturday as Vincent Kriechmayr won the classic Lauberhorn race that Swiss team officials said this week he should not have been allowed to start.
Kriechmayr’s victory in a sun-splashed World Cup downhill beneath the Eiger mountain came despite missing midweek training runs that are typically mandatory. He had been kept in quarantine in Austria after testing positive for COVID-19.
He had arrived in Wengen late Wednesday, after the two training runs, but was cleared by race officials who insisted Kriechmayr — the reigning world champion in downhill — had not been given special treatment under International Ski Federation rules.
In a further twist, Kriechmayr’s winning run denied Swiss favorite Beat Feuz a record fourth win in the storied race.
The Austrian winner finished 0.34 seconds ahead of runner-up Feuz down the tiring 4.27 kilometer (2 2/3-mile) course that is the longest on the World Cup circuit.
Kriechmayr’s winning time at just over 2 minutes, 26 seconds was 0.44 faster than third-placed Dominik Paris of Italy.