KVITJELL, Norway, March 2 (UPI) -- Hannes Trinkl, who was left off the powerful Austrian downhill team at the Salt Lake City Games last month, won a downhill race Saturday for his sixth World Cup victory.
Trinkl capped his recovery from a serious injury sustained at a training session in Schladming last November. He crashed hard which caused head and facial injuries along with a dislocated shoulder.
The 34-year-old Austrian won with a time of one minute, 27.15 seconds, finishing ahead of Frenchman Calude Cretier. Franco Cavegn of Switzerland and Kristian Ghedina of Italy were equal at 1:27.57 to share third place.
Trinkl was left of the Olympic team in favor of teammate Christoph Gruber despite podium finishes in January at Wengen and Kitzbuehel.
Olympic champion Fritz Strobl of Austria was fifth, while teammate Stephane Eberharter finished sixth. Eberharter has already clinched the downhill World Cup title.
