ROSA KHUTOR, Russia, February 16 (R-Sport) – Norway’s Kjetil Jansrud defeated a tough Rosa Khutor course to become men’s Olympic super G champion Sunday, while U.S. veteran Bode Miller claimed one of two bronze medals.
Jansrud, who has been on strong form throughout the Sochi Olympics, dominated on the winding course to win by 0.30 seconds from Andrew Weibrecht of the U.S., the 2010 bronze medalist in super G.
"I am floating and feeling great. It hasn't sunk in yet," Jansrud said. "I wasn't nervous at the start but things got a little too exciting when Andrew Weibrecht was going down."
Weibrecht said he was stunned to have overcome years of injuries to win the silver, the best result for the U.S. so far in Sochi Alpine events.
"I came down the hill and I realised I had skied well. I just appreciated my good run," he said. "It took a couple of seconds to look at the time and I saw I was second, but I had to look again to believe it. This is unbelievable."
The bronze medal was shared as the 36-year-old Miller and Canadian skier Jan Hudec both finished 0.53 seconds off Jansrud’s time. It is the second time in Sochi that a medal has been shared after Tina Maze and Dominique Gisin split the gold in the women’s downhill.
Miller cried when he learnt he had won his sixth career Olympic medal after narrowly missing out in two previous events in Sochi. He has endured repeated injuries over the last two years, as well as the death of his brother Chelone, aged 29, from a seizure in 2012.
"It's a really big day for me emotionally. It's been such a tough two years, with my brother passing away and all the injuries," he said. "With how close everything has been, it's just I'm just finally getting a little luck and a break today.
Norwegian star Aksel Lund Svindal, the 2010 Olympic super G champion, once again missed a medal in Sochi, this time by just 0.09 seconds as he continued a run of almost-but-not-quite performances at the Games.
Asked if his countryman Jansrud's success would soften the blow of missing the medals again, Svindal said: "Almost, but not completely - it's an individual sport." Svindal still retains medal chances in Wednesday's giant slalom, in which he won Olympic bronze four years ago.
While the race had nothing like the 36 percent attrition rate of the women's super G on Saturday, which was won by Austria's Anna Fenninger, there were some notable non-finishers.
Italy's Christof Innerhofer failed to add to his two-medal haul from Sochi as he slid off the course, while downhill gold medalists Didier Defago and Matthias Mayer also proved unable to reach the finish line.
"I thought I could make up a lot of time in that turn at the top, but my plan backfired because it's steep and slippery," Innerhofer said.
The men’s super G started an hour earlier in the morning than previously scheduled, to cushion the effect of warm temperatures that have softened the snow.
