By The Canadian Press on November 26, 2022.
LAKE LOUISE, Alta. – Norway’s Aleksander Aamodt Kilde won the men’s season opening World Cup downhill Saturday in Lake Louise, Alta. Kilde claimed last season’s World Cup title in downhill and opened his defence of it in a time of one minute 47.98 seconds on the three-kilometre course. The Norwegian narrowly edged runner-up Daniel Hemetsberger of Austria by six hundredths of a second. Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt, who took last season’s overall World Cup crown across the disciplines of slalom, giant slalom, super-G and downhill, placed third in 1:48.08. Brodie Seger of Whistler, B.C., and Calgary’s Jeff Read were the top Canadians in 26th and 27th in a field of 69 racers from 15 different countries. Friday’s downhill in Lake Louise was called off because of weather and rescheduled to Saturday, which replaced one of two planned super-G races. A super-G is scheduled for Sunday. The women arrive in Alberta next week for a pair of downhills and a super-G to kick off their speed season. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 26, 2022. 9