Schladming, Austria – In a tight finish today in Schladming, Klaus Kroell of Austria won the Audi FIS Alpine World Cup downhill title in front of his home town with a seventh-place finish as Norwegian Aksel Lund Svindal won the World Cup Finals race for his first downhill victory of the season.

Kroell took the season-long title by just seven points over Switzerland’s Beat Feuz, who was second on the day more than half a second back of Kroell. With the finish in sunny Schladming, Fuez added to his World Cup overall lead and will carry a 135-point margin over Austria’s Marcel Hirscher into the season’s final three races. Switzerland’s Didier Cuche pushed it to the limit and beyond in his run, ending up falling on his side and although he made a miraculous recovery to finish the race, it pushed him out of the reckoning – he was 17^th – and ultimately cost him a shot at the downhill title.

Canadian Cowboys enjoyed a solid performance today in Austria. Jan Hudec, Ben Thomsen and Erik Guay put the finishing touches on their downhill season with respective 8^th, 10^th and 13^th-place finishes.  The trio still weren’t happy with their runs.

“Literally I felt awesome in the start today. I felt so ready to rock,” said Hudec, 30, of Calgary, Alberta. “I was racing the top section (well). Second split I literally got something in my eye and I couldn’t see anything. It’s kind of a stupid excuse and at the end of the day, no one cares, but it’s frustrating. It was an eyelash or something. I couldn’t see the rest of the course.

“If you had told me at the beginning of the season that I would finish and in the points, well, I’m pretty stoked with that,” reflected Hudec, who now ends the year ranked ninth in the world in downhill after spending his summer battling a troublesome back injury and started the season after very little pre-season training. “Today was super frustrating but I finished the season strong. You can nit-pick but I’m pretty pleased with how the season went.”

For Thomsen, of Invermere, British Columbia, Wednesday’s race turned into a nail-biter. Sitting 10^th with one racer to go, he had enough points to finish in the top 15 in the world – and start next year with a spot in the bib draw. Norway’s Kjetil Jansrud looked like he would bump the 24-year-old down to 16^th with one of the best runs of the day, but he fell – leaving the newest member of the Canadian Cowboys ranked No. 15 in the standings.

“I haven’t had much time to take it all in but as soon as Jansrud didn’t finish I knew I had finished top 15. It’s been a hell of a season. I’m speechless,” said Thomsen. “My run wasn’t very good. The bottom wasn’t good – I got outside the track and off-line – but luckily I finished 10^th. It was just enough points to keep me in the top 15.”

Guay, who sets high standards for himself, was disappointed with his time of 1:48.42 Wednesday and a 13^th-place finish.

“I wish I would have done better but that’s life,” said Guay, of Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, who has 17 career World Cup podiums after finishing second in the downhill in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, on Jan. 28 and third in Chamonix. “(The conditions were) pretty warm again. If you are on track everything’s good but as soon as you make a little mistake . . .

“I had two mistakes that cost me quite a bit,” added Guay, who ends the year ranked seventh in the world in downhill. “I didn’t ski well enough to be on the podium but could have maybe been top five (without the mistakes).”

There was no U.S. action in today’s race. Utah’s Ted Ligety did not start in favor of saving his energy for this week’s upcoming final super G, giant slalom and slalom races, while Junior World Champion Ryan Cochran-Siegle also did not start in favor of chasing an overall NorAm title. The men’s super G is scheduled for Thursday with both Ligety and Andrew Weibrecht, of Lake Placid, N.Y., starting for the Americans, with Hudec and Guay representing Canada.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
Audi FIS Alpine World Cup
World Cup Finals – Schladming, Austria – Mar. 14, 2012
Men’s Downhill