Austria's Grugger Captures Final Birds Of Prey Training Run

Austria may be poised to reclaim some valuable turf on Friday as Hans Grugger captured the final training run on the eve of tomorrow’s 2010 Audi Birds of Prey World Cup Downhill, while teammate and current Overall World Cup leader Mario Scheiber placed third.

Grugger, the 28-year-old from Bad Hofgastein, outdistanced runner-up Christof Innerhofer of Italy by 18 hundredths of a second, while Scheiber’s time proved to be 22 hundredths off his teammate’s pace.

Austria’s Michael Walchhofer shared the lead in Wednesday’s abbreviated training, while also claiming a win in the opening World Cup Downhill in Lake Louise last weekend.

Since Birds of Prey opened to the world in 1997, an Austrian has stood on the top step of the Downhill podium in Beaver Creek six times, although the last time came in 2007, courtesy of Walchhofer, who has announced his plans to retire at the conclusion of this season. The Austrian men were without a Downhill victory all of last winter.



Top U.S. finish on the day belonged to Bode Miller, with a fourth place showing, 23 hundredths off the pace, while Travis Ganong was 30th. Switzerland’s Didier Cuche, Tuesday’s training run winner, placed fifth, while the next wave of Austrians, including Klaus Kroell, Georg Streitberger and Walchhofer, occupied sixth, seventh and eighth place spots respectively.

Friday’s Audi Birds of Prey Downhill race is scheduled for an 11 a.m. start, with the Red Tail stadium free and open to the public. The remainder of the 2010 Audi Birds of Prey World Cup Weekend will consist of World Cup Super-G on Saturday and World Cup Giant Slalom on Sunday.

Check out all the Audi Birds of Prey action at www.bcworldcup.com.

Photos from today's events:

Posted in: Beaver Creek,Birds of Prey,Birds of Prey World Cup Race Week,FIS,ski racing,U.S. Ski Team,Vail Valley Foundation