On the final day of a World Cup ski racing weekend in Aspen, surprises and top-15 finishes come from back of field

By the sound of the crowd at Aspen Mountain’s World Cup super-G race on Sunday, the spectators sure did love the underdogs.

In World Cup ski racing, the top-ranked skiers usually start first, and competitors ranked lower in World Cup standings go down the hill later in the event.

Generally, that means the racers who compete earlier in the event are favored to finish higher up on the leaderboard, but there can still be some surprises in the results.

And by the sound of the crowd at Aspen Mountain’s Audi F.I.S. Ski World Cup men’s super-G race on Sunday, the spectators sure did love the underdogs.

Nico Gauer from Lichtenstein was the second-to-last racer to leave the starting gates, with a bib number of 53 out of 54 competitors. He skied fast enough to finish in 6th place overall, to raucous cheers from the grandstands.

American Erik Arvidsson, who raced just before Gauer in bib 52, finished in 14th overall.

“We definitely got lucky there with the wind there at the end. … I felt like I put together a pretty good run,” Arvidsson said after the race.

He tied with teammate Jared Goldberg, who had a bib number of 45 denoting his starting position.

1 of 7  — Marco Odermatt at Aspen World Cup downhill

Swiss ski racer Marco Odermatt slides into the finish area after a World Cup downhill race on Aspen Mountain on March 4, 2023. Odermatt finished third in the downhill on March 4 and won the super-G on March 5.

Kaya Williams / Aspen Public Radio

2 of 7  — World Cup backpack toss

A spectator catches a backpack during a giveaway in the grandstands at the World Cup downhill race at Aspen Mountain on March 4, 2023. Announcer Chris Ernst, also known as “Uncle E,” (pictured in foreground) helped keep the crowd engaged during breaks in the competition.

Kaya Williams / Aspen Public Radio

3 of 7  — Kilde at Aspen World Cup downhill podium 2023

Norway’s Aleksander Aamodt Kilde holds up a small Colorado Blue Spruce tree at the top of the podium after winning a World Cup downhill race on Aspen Mountain on March 4, 2023. World Cup winners in Aspen are honored with a tree planted in the “Champions Grove,” located partway up Aspen Mountain.

Kaya Williams / Aspen Public Radio

4 of 7  — Spectators hold large photos of American ski racer Travis Ganong’s head in the grandstands at the World Cup downhill race where he finished 17th at Aspen Mountain on March 4, 2023.

Spectators hold large photos of American ski racer Travis Ganong’s head in the grandstands at the World Cup downhill race where he finished 17th at Aspen Mountain on March 4, 2023. Ganong announced on March 2 that he would retire from World Cup racing at the end of this season.

Kaya Williams / Aspen Public Radio

5 of 7  — Canadian ski racer James Crawford skis into the finish area of the Stifel America's Downhill course at Aspen Mountain on March 3, 2023.

Canadian ski racer James Crawford skis into the finish area of the Stifel America's Downhill course at Aspen Mountain on March 3, 2023. Crawford was one of only 23 competitors in a field of 59 who made it down the hill before deteriorating conditions prompted officials to call off the race and scratch the results.

Kaya Williams / Aspen Public Radio

6 of 7  — Uncle E at World cup

Commentator Chris Ernst, also known as "Uncle E," chats with a group of fans from Norway during the Audi F.I.S. Ski World Cup downhill race at Aspen Mountain on March 3, 2023. Though the races were off to a speedy start, the event was canceled partway through the competition due to winter weather and deteriorating conditions on the course.

Kaya Williams / Aspen Public Radio

7 of 7  — Boyd Billings at Aspen World Cup ski races 2023

Boyd Billings carries an easy-to-spot ski past the grandstands near the finish line of the World Cup ski races in Aspen Mountain on March 4. He painted his face red, white and blue for the races, which ran March 3-5 at Ajax.

Kaya Williams / Aspen Public Radio

The podium, meanwhile, looked about the way ski racing fans probably could have predicted, with the national anthem of Switzerland commemorating Marco Odermatt’s super-G win in a time of 1 minute and 6.80 seconds.

The gold was Odermatt’s fifth super-G win of the season and his second medal of the weekend, as he earned bronze the day before in the downhill. Andreas Sander from Germany was milliseconds off the top of the podium with a silver-medal time of 1:06.85, and Saturday’s downhill winner Aleksander Aamodt Kilde from Norway was third in Sunday’s super-G with a time of 1:07.14.

The weather was sunny and breezy for Sunday’s super-G race, the last in Aspen’s three-day men’s World Cup weekend.

Friday’s downhill race was canceled partway through the competition and the results were scratched due to deteriorating conditions, but downhillers got a chance at redemption in fairer weather on Saturday.

Kilde took the win on the Stifel America's Downhill course Saturday in a time of 1:31.60. Canadian James Crawford was second in 1:32.21, and Odermatt finished just milliseconds behind in a third-place time of 1:32.23.

Full results from the weekend’s races are posted on the International Ski Federation’s website.