By Canadian Press

Moeller earns first World Cup win as another injured skier is airlifted off 2026 Olympics slope

Dec 29, 2024 | 9:59 AM

BORMIO, Italy (AP) — Fredrik Moeller of Norway claimed his first World Cup victory by winning a super-G that got off to an inauspicious start on Sunday as Gino Caviezel became the third skier this weekend to be airlifted off the slope set to be used for the 2026 Olympics.

After Alexis Monney’s debut World Cup win in the downhill the previous day, Moeller also recorded his first victory on the circuit with an early benchmark run down the fearsome Stelvio slope to finish 0.20 seconds ahead of Austrian skier Vincent Kriechmayr.

“It feels really good,” Moeller said. “My skiing was obviously good. It felt like I had some mistakes, which I did, but they weren’t that costly. I managed to ski well where I know I can, and not do anything stupid.”

Monney, who was 27th out of the gate, threatened to knock Moeller out of the leader’s chair after the Swiss skier recovered from a poor start but finished third, just four hundredths of a second behind Kriechmayr — to Moeller’s obvious relief.

“It’s crazy. I don’t know really what to say and I don’t realize what happened this weekend,” Monney told The Associated Press. “The Olympics is still far away, but for sure the slope I like it a lot.”

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Cameron Alexander, a native of North Vancouver, B.C., was the top Canadian in 12th place.

Like Monney, Moeller had never even been on the podium prior to this weekend. His previous best finish was fourth.

But the young guns clearly enjoyed the Stelvio, where the men’s Alpine skiing events are set to take place in 14 months at the Milan-Cortina Olympics.

“Incredible. I’m 33 years old, and they keep pushing all the time,” Kriechmayr said. “They are always on the limit. Now I think you have to be 100% from top to bottom, and if you’re not searching for the limit you’re not able to beat them.

“It’s good to know what I have to do, but it’s incredible what they are doing now.”

Both Monney and Moeller are 24.

“Yeah it’s crazy, it’s really nice that we can push a bit the older ones, get better maybe,” Monney added with a laugh.

Monney’s more lauded teammate Marco Odermatt leaves Bormio without a podium finish this weekend. As in the downhill, the three-time overall champion was fifth, sandwiched between two other Swiss teammates — Stefan Rogentin and Franjo von Allmen.

It was a miserable day for compatriot Caviezel, however.

The 32-year-old was first out of the gates but crashed heavily early on and was taken to hospital by helicopter.

French standout Cyprien Sarrazin and Italian Pietro Zazzi were also taken off the slope by helicopter after crashing in separate incidents in downhill training on Friday.

Sarrazin underwent surgery to drain a bleed near the brain while Zazzi had an operation on his leg.

Odermatt still leads the super-G standings but has seen his advantage cut to just five points by Moeller. He leads the overall standings by 161 points.

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

Daniella Matar, The Associated Press