The Stelvio course is the heavy metal version of skiing. That’s why he fits so perfectly with Dominik Paris, the heavy metal singer who resides on the World Cup circuit.
Paris once again dominated for his record – the seventh victory in Bormio on Tuesday and the sixth in the downhill — making him the first male skier to win so many descents in a single stop. The Italian broke par with the Swiss Didier Cuche, who won five descents in Kitzbühel, Austria.
With his massive legs to absorb the onerous terrain of the Stelvio, Paris finished 0.24 seconds ahead of Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt and 0.80 ahead of another Swiss skier, Niels Hintermann.
“I gave my maximum from top to bottom,” Paris said. “I love it here and I believe in myself. This course is hard and difficult. Having given everything here, you will be satisfied upon arrival.”
While officially no fan was allowed to attend the race because of the anti-recent times measures, there was still a lot of applause for Paris throughout the descent, while recreational skiers tried to get as close to the course as possible.
The other victories of Paris in downhill skiing in Bormio occurred, followed by four consecutive victories. He also won a super-G on the Stelvio.
With the 16th World Cup downhill victory of his career, Paris overtook Franz Heinzer and Hermann Maier and secured the fourth place of all time. Only Franz Klammer (25 years), Peter Müller (19 years) and Stephan Eberharter (18 years) have more victories in downhill than Paris.
Most of Paris’s victories occurred before he tore his knee in a training accident in January.
“The ski is back and my confidence is back,” Paris said.
Odermatt put in an almost perfect race just before the start in Paris, but barely had time to get into the driver’s seat before the Italian beat him.
Nevertheless, Odermatt extended his lead in the overall standings to 286 points.
“I thought it might be the win, but Domme still showed us that he’s the king here,” Odermatt said.
It was the first podium in the downhill for Odermatt, who excels in the giant slalom and in the super-G.
“I knew this climb could be good for me,” Odermatt said. “That’s really also for the technical skier, you have to ski clean and strike where you can.”
Hintermann reached his second consecutive podium in the downhill after he also finished third in Val Gardena.
“I was 29th in the starting list and fought to stay in the top 30 and now two third places in a row,” said Hintermann. “It’s crazy.”
Hintermann added that he had “a kind of mental get-down” after a series of crashes last season, but that he had then “gained new confidence” when he started working with a new coach.
Paris moved 10 points ahead of Matthias Mayer, who was action for a 12th place, to the top of the relegation standings.
Paris has never won the title in the downhill season, making it his main goal for the season – before winning a gold medal at the next Olympics in Beijing.
Other top riders have also struggled.
Swiss Beat Feuz lost control of bumps halfway and fell. Feuz, who won the downhill World title four times in a row, slipped into the mountain but avoided the safety nets.
Urs Kryenbuehl, another Swiss skier, crossed a barrier in the upper part of the track and also failed to reach the finish.
Jeffrey Read from Calgary was 24th and was the best Canadian, followed by James Crawford from Toronto in 25th place, Broderick Thompson from Whistler in 27th place and Brodie Seger from North Vancouver in 32nd place.
Paris can add to its grand total in Bormio with Super-G races on Wednesday and Thursday at the Stelvio.
At 32, Paris hopes to continue skiing until the Milan-Cortina D’Ampezzo Olympics, when the men will run on the Stelvio.