Austria’s Reiter Wins Gold; Norway’s Kjus Makes History

HAKUBA, Japan —  Austrian Mario Reiter won the men’s combined event Friday and Norway’s Lasse Kjus became the first skier in Olympic Alpine history to win two medals on the same day by taking the silver.

Reiter, who held a lead of 1.81 seconds over Kjus after the two slalom runs in the combined event, lost much of that margin in Friday’s combined downhill but held on for the title.

Reiter’s aggregate time for the three runs was 3 minutes, 8.06 seconds. Kjus, a silver winner in the downhill earlier Friday and winner of the combined event at the 1994 games, was second in 3:08.65. Austria’s Christian Mayer won bronze in 3:10.11.

Andrzej Bachleda of Poland, a music student at the University of Denver, was third after the combined slalom, but slipped to fifth overall after the combined downhill.

The rare doubleheader was forced by weather that has jumbled the Alpine schedule. The start of the combined downhill was pushed back 45 minutes because the downhill was delayed by wind and injuries Friday morning.

Hermann Maier, who has dominated the World Cup circuit this season, dropped out of the combined event after being injured on a spectacular crash in the downhill. He was in seventh place after the two slalom runs in the combined event, and would have been a medal contender.

None of the three Americans who started the combined event made it through the two slalom runs on Tuesday.

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MEDALISTS

Alpine Skiing

Men’s Combined

Gold: Mario Reiter, Austria

Silver: Lasse Kjus, Norway

Bronze: Christian Mayer, Austria