Didier Cuche of Switzerland wins third straight men’s World Cup downhill title

Didier Cuche wins men’s World Cup downhill title

KVITFJELL, Norway — Didier Cuche of Switzerland secured his third straight World Cup downhill title with a dominant victory in Saturday’s race, the first after the Vancouver Olympics.

Cuche finished the race on the 1994 Olympic course in Kvitfjell, Norway, in 1 minute, 45.98 seconds to beat Olympic silver medalist Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway by nearly half a second. Klaus Kroell of Austria was third.

“It’s a nice day, I really enjoyed it,” Cuche said. “I was very nervous about 30 minutes before the start but then I calmed down. I found a really tight line down the course.”

It was Cuche’s third victory this season in the event, and the 35-year-old Swiss veteran clinched the discipline title with one race remaining at the World Cup finale in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

With a giant slalom and super-G victory as well, Cuche has won five races this season and has a total of 14 career wins.

Saturday’s race in sunny but freezing weather was marred by a heavy crash by Andrew Weibrecht of the United States, the Olympic super-G bronze medalist.

Weibrecht lost his balance while landing after a long jump, tumbled over several times with his skis and poles flying away and finally came to a stop in the safety netting. He was seen moving but appeared to clutch his right shoulder. Weibrecht’s condition was not immediately known.

Cuche had a disappointing Olympics in Vancouver, where he finished sixth in the downhill, but he blossomed again on the 3,035-meter long Olympiabakken from 1994. Cuche also won the Kvitfjell downhill in 2007 and was runner-up last season.

Cuche’s only rival for the downhill title, Swiss teammate Carlo Janka, finished sixth.

Svindal, who won the super-G Olympic gold medal, delighted the home crowd with a fast run, but he went too wide in a bend compared to Cuche and had to settle for second in 1:46.45. Kroell was third in 1:46.55.