BEIJING (AP) 鈥� On their second trip down a previously unknown Olympic hill, the world's top skiers had to deal with strong winds.
Canadian Broderick Thompson posted the third fastest time on the unfamiliar slopes.
Aleksander Aamodt Kilde handled it the best, posting the fastest time Friday in the second men鈥檚 downhill training session of the Beijing Games.
The Norwegian, who leads the World Cup downhill standings, had a time of 1 minute, 43.72 seconds through gusts of winds as the skiers tested the Rock course for the second time.
鈥淵ou could have had a race today, as you saw we skied, but it would have certainly been a lottery in a day like today,鈥� Italian skier Christof Innerhofer said after finishing 0.57 seconds behind Kilde. 鈥淭here were really strong wind gusts 鈥� Then it changed a bit. You need a bit of luck. But I don鈥檛 think about that, because just luck won鈥檛 be enough.鈥�
Max Franz of Austria was second fastest, 0.06 seconds behind Kilde, and Thompson of Whistler, B.C., was 0.20 behind.
The 27-year-old Thompson earned his first World Cup podium with a third-place result in a super-G in Beaver Creek, Colo., two months ago.
The start of Friday鈥檚 session was delayed for an hour because of the wind.
Kilde鈥檚 main challengers for the gold medal are expected to be Swiss skiers Beat Feuz and Marco Odermatt, the overall World Cup leader. Feuz was 0.58 slower than Kilde. Odermatt was more than two seconds off the pace.
鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 fast. Probably I haven鈥檛 found the best setup yet but for sure the wind is playing a big role,鈥� Odermatt said. 鈥淵ou can discuss the wind for the next 10 days. It probably won鈥檛 be the fairest race.
"It鈥檚 sad to have this in the Olympics but it is how it is and you have to ski well for sure, otherwise you can鈥檛 win. And if you have the luck on your side and a good run you can win a medal.鈥�
Brodie Seger became the first racer not to finish the course after crashing on a turn. The Canadian spun around and slid down the slope, grazing the safety nets, but avoided serious injury.
鈥淚鈥檓 feeling lucky. My thumb is a little bit sore but that鈥檚 it. I can ski with that,鈥� Seger, from North Vancouver, B.C., 聽said. 鈥淚t was definitely unnerving when I was heading toward the fence sliding.
"I really didn鈥檛 want to hit it and get all tangled up in the B net, because I feel like that could have ended a lot worse ... So I managed to just steer clear.鈥�
All 56 racers successfully made it down the slope during Thursday's opening training session. That was the first time that the world鈥檚 best skiers got a chance to see the Rock course up close because test events were canceled over the last two years amid the pandemic.
There will be one more training session on Saturday before the men鈥檚 downhill opens the Alpine competition the following day.
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Daniella Matar, The Associated Press
