Cuche second in St Moritz

Cuche (left) is joined on the podium by Eberharter (winner) and Knauss (right) Keystone

Swiss skier Didier Cuche warmed up for the Winter Olympics in style on Sunday, finishing second in the St Moritz World Cup giant slalom race.

Starting his second run in seventh place, Cuche blasted his way through the field only to be pipped at the last by Austrian star Stephan Eberharter, who clinched victory by just two hundredths of a second.

“I lost a lot of time with two mistakes on my first run,” Cuche told swissinfo afterwards. “So I’m really glad about the second run where I took risks but didn’t make any mistakes. It’s really good for my confidence ahead of the Olympics because I have never skied as well as I’m skiing right now.”

Eberharter’s win was his second of the weekend following his triumph in Saturday’s downhill race and his ninth victory overall this season. The current world rankings leader was joined on the podium by compatriot Hans Knauss, who used his second run to leap from 14th place to third.

Knauss’s performance ensured that the Austrians left St Moritz with five of the weekend’s six podium places. Saturday’s downhill was particularly fruitful for Switzerland’s neighbours and arch-rivals with Austrian athletes claiming six of the top eight positions.

Nevertheless, Sunday’s giant slalom helped put some smiles back on the faces of the Swiss crowd and not just on account of Cuche’s achievement.

Von Grünigen back in action

Switzerland’s reigning giant slalom world champion Michael von Grünigen made a solid return after missing the last month with an elbow injury. Wearing a brace on the damaged joint, the 32-year-old Swiss finished Sunday’s race in 14th place.

“It wasn’t a super day for me, but it wasn’t bad either,” von Grünigen told swissinfo in the finish area. “My elbow’s not too bad now, it’s more a matter of what’s in my head and being able to take risks again.”

The Swiss Olympic squad was also able to celebrate a late addition to its ranks, with 24-year-old Tobias Grünenfelder meeting the entry requirement for Salt Lake City with an impressive seventh place finish – his best placing to date on the World Cup tour.

Grünenfelder’s sister Corina was also celebrating on Sunday after finishing 15th in a women’s World Cup slalom race in Are, Sweden. Her placing was not as vital as her brother’s however, since Corina had already made sure of her ticket to Salt Lake.

Giant slalom world champion Sonja Nef was the best placed of the Swiss athletes in Are, finishing in fifth place almost a second and a half behind French skier Laure Pequegnot. America’s Kristina Koznick and Sweden’s Ylva Nowen took second and third place respectively.

by Mark Ledsom, St Moritz