ALPINE SKI. Last year Didier Cuche became the first skier to defend his Hahnenkamm Downhill title since Switzerland's Franz Heinzer in 1992. He also became the oldest skier to ever win a World Cup downhill. Today, on his last competitive run on the Streif, Cuche moved a step further towards alpine immortality. Securing a fourth win in a Downhill proper on the Streif, stopping the official Rolex Timing a quarter of a second ahead of Romed Baumann, he wrote a new chapter in the record books of Kitzbühel. "It's really a great feeling" was all he needed to say.

The 72nd Hahnenkamm Downhill was not the full course. Persistent snowfall commencing at around 10.00 CET, combined with low cloud and poor visibility, put paid to the fearsome top section, including the Mausefalle and Steilhang. Even in a sport where lives appear to be regularly laid on the line, there is a limit to the amount of acceptable risk. The call was made by the Jury at 10.42 CET and a temporary start box was set up at the Alte Schneise, 300 metres down the Hahnenkamm, lopping 1,300 metres off the course length. It was still a race and a tight one. Eight runners finished within half a second of the winner.

Asked if he was disappointed not to race from the top, Cuche showed the character and flair that makes the sport poorer for his impending retirement, "An athlete does not really think about these kind of things because you have to stay focused on the racing to try to win. We saw the course in the morning during inspection and it was in a great shape in the top section and a big compliment to the organizers, who had worked like crazy all night long. I am not really disappointed that we did not race from the top though; because on my last run from the top I also won."

Numbers game
Only one other skier has defended the Hahnenkamm Downhill title three times in a row. Franz Klammer. Only one other skier has won four Downhills on the Streif. Franz Klammer. Cuche has won five when counting his Sprint victory in 1998. That a Swiss skier has the temerity to challenge repeatedly the ascendancy of Austria at its Mecca of skiing should lead to uproar. Cuche though has tamed the partisan crowd. They recognise a man in tune with their mountain, and Austrian joined Swiss in celebrating something special. Cuche has one title all to himself. At 37 years and 158 days he has extended his mark as the oldest skier ever to win a World Cup event: a level that may never be surpassed. Unless he wins again this season.

Cuche did not do it the easy way: 6 kilometres per hour (kph) slower than the fastest skier at the speed gun (Adrien Theaux, 131 kph); three-tenths slower than the fastest skier in the second quarter (Joachim Pochner, 16.19 secs), and one-tenth slower in the third quarter (Andrej Sporn, 20.28 secs). Excellence and achievement require a long game. Significantly, Cuche started fastest and, as so often in the past, finished fastest. His impeccable, high line on the traverse before the turn towards the finish meant a shorter distance to cover carrying greater velocity. Job done. Both Baumann and Klaus Kroell (who finished third) acknowledged Kitzbühel will be easier without the Swiss dynamo.

Speed fame
Downhill skiing is the fastest of the Alpine World Cup disciplines. Skiers regularly reach speeds exceeding 100 kph during their headlong descent riding their edges and their luck. Third place in today's Downhill went to Klaus Kroell, who twice attempted to break the gun this week recording the highest speed in each training run: 135.7 kph and 138.2 kph respectively.

Official Timing partner Rolex has had a long association with speed, stretching back to the 1930s. In 1935, Malcolm Campbell wore a Rolex, as he became the first person to drive an automobile at over 300 miles per hour (482 kph). Chuck Yeager wore a Rolex twelve years later, as he became the first person to break the sound barrier, reaching Mach 1 (1,225 kph) in a fixed-wing plane. 50 years later he repeated the exercise, in an F-15 fighter.

Next week, Rolex's partnership with the human defiance of inertia moves from the white, mountainous surrounds of Kitzbühel to the flat of Daytona Beach on the Atlantic shore of Florida. Here, in 1959, Rolex cemented its position in motorsport by beginning an association with the Daytona International Speedway. In 1992, Rolex became the title sponsor of the track's pre-eminent endurance race, the Rolex 24 Hours At Daytona. On 28 January 2012, the fiftieth anniversary edition gets underway: follow the event at www.caracingnews.com

Quotable claims
Asked if, following his retirement announcement on Thursday, he had thought subsequently about what it would be like to win again here, the response of Cuche was that of the exemplary professional, "It is exactly what an athlete should not do, to think about how, when and what could be.The athlete has to have his mind concentrated on the moment, on what is "now". This is something we have to deal with daily, but it belongs to our job and we try to avoid this kind of thinking."

Cuche did allow one brief thought to enter his head momentarily as he broke the Rolex Timing wand, "Just before I pushed out of the start, the last thought I allowed into my mind was that this is my last run. I think it helped me enjoy the race."

Romed Baumann was asked whether the change of start posed a problem for him, "not really, except the realisation that you could not afford to make a big mistake, since it was too short a race to make up the time. You had to be clear in your mind about this."

This is the second time Klauss Kroell has been third at the Hahnenkamm-Races, was he happy? "Yes, I am happy. It was a difficult race, and it's not easy to be on the podium in Kitzbühel. It's unbelievable, already the second time for me here. I am very happy and I enjoy it of course."

Racing continues tomorrow at 10.15 CET with the Slalom on the Ganslern with 93 registered competitors. For detailed information about the 72nd Hahnenkamm-Races including entrants and results please visit the event website: www.hahnenkamm.com

Rolex S.A. has been the Official Timing Partner of the Hahnenkamm-Races since 2007.

KPMS
January 21, 2012