ALPINE SKI WORLD CUP 1997/98
Kvitfjell (NOR) Men's 10th Downhill. 07.mar.1998
Downhill in Kvitfjell First win for Nicolas Burtin

France's Nicolas Burtin celebrated his very first World Cup win in the last Downhill of the season before the Finals in Crans-Montana, Switzerland.
The 26 year-old skier from Megeve, in Savoie, won the demanding race in Kvitfjell, Norway, where he beat by 11/100 Italy's Werner Perathoner and by 22/100 Austria's Josef Strobl and the winner in the last two years, Lasse Kjus from Norway, both tied for 3rd place.
The new Olympic Champion Jean Luc Cretier has to be content with a distant 9th place while the previous Gold medal winner in Kvitfjell in 1994, Tommy Moe, finished 19th. The skier from Alaska was in the lead at the second intermediate time but lost too much time at the bottom of the treacherous Olympic course after a mistake in the last jump. He finished few hundredths behind his teammate Jason Rosener. None of them is qualified for the World Cup Finals in Crans-Montana where only the top-25 in each event can race.
In fact no member of the US men's team will compete in Switzerland. A total of seventeen skiers finish ahead within the same second.
Austria's Andreas Schifferer didn't finish his run yet still managed to clinch the Downhill World Cup title since his teammate Hermann Maier doesn't race in Norway this week end.
Maier, who suffers from his back, is now sure to conquer the Overall World Cup title with only five more races to go until next week-end.
Schifferer is the first Austrian the win this title since the last success of Helmut Hoeflehner in 1990. He could win four Downhill races this winter.
Burtin, the first Frenchman to win a World Cup race since the retirement of the 1997 Overall Champion Luc Alphand, had many good reasons to achieve a great performance on the splendid Norwegian Downhill run. Three time 2nd this season in major Downhills race such as Kitzbuhel, in Austria or Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Germany, "Burt" failed to finish the Olympic event in Hakuba where his teammate Jean Luc Cretier grab the gold medal. He also enjoyed to compete again in Norway where he got a strong 6th place in 1994 only few hundredths away from the podium.
Starting in 9th position, Burtin was able to follow an almost perfect line in the middle part of the course where all his rivals lost much time on him, especially Perathoner, one of he fastest men in the very technical upper part. Very aggressive in the fast intermediate section which includes two difficult jumps, Burtin also nailed perfectly the last gliding part in which Tommy Moe lost a lot of time.
With this first win, Burtin confirmed his great talent and his strong determination to become one the world top Downhill specialists.
He needed more time that he wanted after sustaining several major injuries including torn ligaments (ACL) at a knee in the last three years. "I had to fight hard for this one" he admitted after the race. "I have struggled a lot but it made me also tougher. I felt confident this season and I was ready for this success. It's a great reimbursement for all my bad luck in the past". Burtin, who is now aiming for a 3rd place in the final Downhill World Cup standings after the last race in Crans-Montana grew up in Megeve in the farm of his parents who produce cheese.
Always on the move, he likes speed and risks. As most of his colleagues, Nicolas has fun with his motorcars in the fields and the woods close to his house. When he injured himself a third time last year, his future in the French team seemed dubious and he had to pay himself for his training expenses.
Fortunately for him, he could find a sponsor to cover this expenses. He was not the only skier to celebrate a kind of a revenge in Norway. It was also the case for Josef Strobl, who could not qualify in the Austrian team for the Olympic race three weeks ago. In fact Lasse Kjus, 2nd in Hakuba, was the only racer to be able to confirm his Olympic medal in Norway.
"It's great to have another top-3 place here in front of my friends but I was aiming for a third win in a row here" said the 1996 Overall World Cup Champion who has not won a race so far. He will have a another great chance on Sunday since the winner of all previous five Super-G race, Hermann Maier, will not compete.
Also fighting for victory will be Switzerland's Didier Cuche, 5th in that Downhill race and half of the Asutrian team lead by Hans Knauss and Stefan Eberharter, two other Silver medals in Nagano.
Men's 10th Downhill, 07.03.1998
Rank Name Nat. Total
 1 BURTIN Nicolas  FRA   1:44.07
 2 PERATHONER Werner  ITA   1:44.18
 3 KJUS Lasse  NOR   1:44.29
 3 STROBL Josef  AUT   1:44.29
 5 CUCHE Didier  SUI   1:44.37
 6 KERNEN Bruno Ii  SUI   1:44.48
 6 RUNGGALDIER Peter  ITA   1:44.48
 8 CAVEGN Franco  SUI   1:44.67
 8 JAERBYN Patrik  SWE   1:44.67
 10 CRETIER Jean-Luc  FRA   1:44.68
 11 STROBL Fritz  AUT   1:44.70
 12 SAUDER Luke  CAN   1:44.75
 13 FORRER Christian  SUI   1:44.77
 14 GHEDINA Kristian  ITA   1:44.78
 15 TRINKL Hannes  AUT   1:44.83
 16 EBERHARTER Stephan  AUT   1:44.92
 17 FATTORI Alessandro  ITA   1:44.94
 18 ROSENER Jason  USA   1:45.24
 19 MOE Tommy  USA   1:45.27
 20 PAULSEN Lasse  NOR   1:45.30
 21 FRANZ Werner  AUT   1:45.35
 22 AAMODT Kjetil Andre  NOR   1:45.38
 23 ORTLIEB Patrick  AUT   1:45.39
 24 GRUENENFELDER Juerg  SUI   1:45.41
 25 RAHLVES Daron  USA   1:45.49
 26 SIVERTSEN Kenneth  NOR   1:45.51
 27 NYBERG Fredrik  SWE   1:45.52
 28 RASMUSSEN Kyle  USA   1:45.53
 29 KNAUSS Hans  AUT   1:45.55
 30 HERRMANN Markus  SUI   1:45.59
 31 PRETOT David  FRA   1:45.60
 32 STEMMLE Brian  CAN   1:45.72
 33 KITT A J  USA   1:45.73
 34 DENERIAZ Antoine  FRA   1:45.77
 35 GREBER Christian  AUT   1:45.78
 36 DUVILLARD Adrien  FRA   1:45.84
 37 GIGANDET Xavier  SUI   1:45.89
 38 KRAUSS Stefan  GER   1:45.95
 39 SENIGAGLIESI Alberto  ITA   1:46.00
 40 RUPP Heinrich  SUI   1:46.02
 41 HASLER Juergen  LIE   1:46.13
 42 FLEISCHER Chad  USA   1:46.23
 43 GALLI Lorenzo  ITA   1:46.27
 44 FELLER Maurizio  ITA   1:46.29
 45 BESSE William  SUI   1:46.34
 46 PODIVINSKY Ed  CAN   1:46.36
 47 PERATHONER Ulrich  ITA   1:46.45
 48 BELL Graham  GBR   1:47.24
 49 MARULLAZ Robin  FRA   1:47.37
 50 LESKINEN Janne  FIN   1:47.38
 51 SOLBAKKEN Bjarne  NOR   1:47.82
 52 FILISCHKIN Andrej  RUS   1:47.91
 53 STANKALLA Stefan  GER   1:48.16
 54 PEN Peter  SLO   1:48.40

Did not start 1st run:
MADER Guenther (AUT), MARIN-CUDRAZ Frederic (FRA)

Did not finish 1st run:
GROENVOLD Audun (NOR), SCHIFFERER Andreas (AUT), SELETTO Erik (ITA)

Disqualified 1st run:
HOFFMANN Ambrosi (SUI)