BEAVER CREEK, Colo., Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Another World Cup race produced another Austrian win Saturday as Stephan Eberharter cruised to victory in a men's downhill.
Eberharter, the overall World Cup champion, charged down the sun-kissed Birds of Prey course in 1 minute, 40.18 seconds to knock teammate Michael Walchhofer from the top podium.
It was third 1-2 Austrian finish in as many reasons.
Only super-G world champion Daron Rahlves of the United States prevented an Austrian sweep, coming home ahead of Olympic champion Fritz Strobl in 1:40.56.
Rahlves became the first American to reach the podium on home snow since Billy Johnson claimed a downhill victory at Aspen in 1984.
The result was all the more sweeter for Rahlves, who thought his chances for a top-three finish had disappeared when he was penalized Friday by the Intenational Ski Federation (FIS) for using illegal equipment and given a late start number of 37.
At issue were the knee and back braces used by the racers that did not meet FIS air permeability standards.
"My biggest concern was how the course was going to hold up," said Rahlves, who also bagged 50 grams of gold for making the biggest move up from his start position, going from 37th to third. "Been in position before when I had troubles with FIS and went out skiing with revenge.
"But that never worked out with me, so I forgot about it and went up there and skied with everything I had today. I've felt good this week and I wanted to win one for the United States."
It also was a record day for the U.S. men's team with Marco Sullivan taking sixth and Bode Miller eighth. Three American skiers placed in the top 10 of a World Cup downhill or super-G for the first time since 1972.
For the fifth time in six races this season, an Austrian stood at the top of the World Cup podium and on four of those occasions it was Eberharter accepting the winner's check.
Having skied out from under the shadow of compatriot Hermann Maier, who remains in Austria recovering from a near-fatal motorcycle accident, Eberharter finally added a victory after accumulating five podium places from his previous visits to this Colorado resort.
"I never won here, but I always performed well and to win here is great," said Eberharter, who has had five podium results here. "It is a great addition to my successes.
"It was rough and I lost some time at the bottom, but it worked out OK."
The Austrians will be looking to cap off their sweep through North America with a victory in Sunday's super-G before the World Cup shifts back to Europe, starting with races in France next weekend.
