Mayer does the double with super-G gold

Many had seen the strong Norwegians as favourites, but Austria’s Matthias Mayer overcame his fancied rivals to grab gold in the alpine skiing super-G at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games.

Having already won gold in the downhill event at Sochi 2014, today’s victory made Matthias Mayer the second man to win gold in both the downhill and super-G disciplines at the Olympic Games, behind Aksel Lund Svindal, who achieved the feat when he won gold in the downhill at these Games. 

Men's SuperG
Men's SuperG © Kjetil Jansrud (NOR) (Getty Images)

The reigning super-G Olympic gold medallist Kjetil Jansrud and his Norwegian teammate Aksel Lund Svindal could only finish third and fifth respectively at the Jeongseon Alpine Centre, as Swiss Beat Feuz grabbed the silver medal.

With just a single run down the steep, sweeping course to lay down a time, the super-G demands a delicate balance of aggression and precision. Mayer, 27, rode his luck to descend in 1 minute 24.44 seconds, 0.13 seconds faster than Feuz and 0.18 ahead of Jansrud. “It was an awesome run. Now I have my second gold medal. It is most special," Mayer said.

Men's SuperG
Men's SuperG © Beat Feuz (SUI) (Getty Images)

Feuz, 31, followed up his bronze medal in the downhill competition earlier in the week at PyeongChang 2018. The winner of the downhill World Championship in 2017, he said a second Olympic podium was “a dream”.

“Second medal for these Olympic Games is really nice. That's a dream for me. I hope in four years I come back for the gold medal,” he said. “It was a great race for me. The course was really tough, really fast. It's good for me also (in) downhill. ”The only Austrian to previously win the Olympic men’s super-G was Hermann Maier in 1998, with Matthias Mayer's father Helmut a silver medallist in the inaugural race in Calgary in 1988.

Men's SuperG
Men's SuperG © The medallists (Getty Images)