Double victory for Swiss in World Cup downhill

Defago's training paid off in the Bormiio downhill AFP

Didier Defago and Patrick Küng of Switzerland won first and second places in the World Cup downhill event in Bormio, Italy on Thursday.

Defago’s winning time was two minutes 1.81 seconds, 0.29 seconds ahead of Küng.

Austria’s Klaus Kröll took third place followed by Erik Guay of Canada and Bode Miller of the United States.

Swiss veteran Didier Cuche finished in eighth position, 1.16 seconds behind Defago.

Defago’s win was the first for Switzerland in the World Cup downhill in Bormio since Pirmin Zurbriggen won in 1985.

It was Defago’s fourth career World Cup victory, and third in the downhill event. He also won a gold in the Vancouver Olympics, but a torn knee ligament kept him out of competition for seven months from September 2010.  

“I’m just happy to be racing again. Everything is positive now,” Defago commented after his win. “I’ve been waiting for this race since the start of the season. I like this course and it suits my style.”

Defago is the second Swiss to take a downhill this season: Cuche won the event in Lake Louise in Canada. Two other Swiss, Sandro Viletta and Beat Feuz, have won a Super-G, at Beaver Creek, Colorado and Val Gardena in Italy respectively.

The Bormio downhill put Miller at the top of the standings for the discipline. Cuche is in third place, and Feuz, the previous leader but who fell during the race on Friday, slipped back to fourth.