Sochi 2014: Matthias Mayer Wins the First Gold Medal for Austria in Men’s Downhill
Matthias Mayer won the first gold medal for Austria after winning men's downhill at the Alpine skiing event of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics.
Mayer, who is a native of Austria, defeated Italy's Christof Innerhofer and Norway's Kjetil Jansrud. He also defeated the crowd-favourites American Bode Miller and Norwegian Aksel Lund Svindal, who finished eight and fourth, respectively. He outskied everyone else with a time of 2 minutes and 6.23 seconds.
Mayer has never won in any major international skiing competition until the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics and he is extremely blissful about his new achievement, ABC News reported.
"Of course, it means a lot to me," said Mayer. He also stated feeling a little bit anxious going down the slopes because he knows it is hard to go down the track without committing mistakes.
Mayer is 23 and his all-time career best in a World Cup downhill is fifth place.
USA Today reported that Mayer had his hopes high in winning in the said Alpine skiing event. He felt great on the day of the men's downhill competition.
"I woke up this morning and I knew I could win this race," he said. Mayer went on and said that he was just feeling happy the entire day, even throughout the inspection.
"It was my day today."
"This is unbelievable."
Mayer said that winning at the Olympics was something that he would like to achieve in a few years. "It was really cool and my family will be excited," said Mayer.
Mayer made his debut in the World Cup in 2009. He is the son of former Alpine skier and former Olympic silver medalist Helmut Mayer. He is one of the 22 delegate athletes of Austria in Alpine skiing.
Fast Fact: Austria has won more medals in Alpine skiing than any other nation. Undoubtedly, Mayer has given Austria a good start at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics.
As for the crowd-favourite American skier, Miller, he was trying to be the oldest skier to win in alpine skiing at 36. Miller blamed the weather as well as the conditions of the slopes at Rosa Khutor for his poor performance. He said that on the day of the event, the sky was cloudy and the temperatures were warmer that tempered and made the surface of the slopes a little softer.
"It's one of those days where it's hard to say where the time went," said Miller.
"I skied pretty well."
Miller said that he was taking a lot of risks and being very aggressive. However, he made some mistakes which could have played a factor of him losing in the competition.
"I'm disappointed I didn't get a medal, but I brought huge intensity and skied aggressive and I was pushing the lines," Miller said.
