Old guy Guay is king of the hill

Erik Guay of Canada celebrates winning the super-G title at the FIS World Ski Championships at St. Moritz, Switzerland on Wednesday, becoming the oldest gold medalist at 35. Stefano Rellandini / Reuters

At 35, veteran Canadian shows he still has the right stuff in super-G

Erik Guay led the veteran Canadians over the favored Norwegians in the super-G on Wednesday and became the oldest gold medalist at the FIS World Ski Championships.

The 35-year-old Guay beat Olympic super-G champion Kjetil Jansrud by 0.45 seconds - his first victory in almost three years.

Guay triumphed less than two weeks after a spectacular crash, when he flew 60 meters in the air off a jump in a treacherous World Cup downhill.

"It's incredible. I'm as happy as can be," said Guay, putting his win down to "forgetting about everything and having a fun race."

It was a banner day for Canada after Norway seemed sure to also take bronze in an event it dominates. But late-starting Manny Osborne-Paradis edged World Cup champion Aleksander Aamodt Kilde off the podium.

On his 33rd birthday, Osborne-Paradis claimed his first career championship medal, trailing Guay by 0.51. He was serenaded by a finish-area crowd, and later was hugged by his mother.

Guay added super-G gold to his downhill title from the 2011 worlds in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. It was at the same German course last month that he wiped out in a twisting fall.

"I was lucky to walk away with fairly minor injuries," said Guay, competing at his seventh worlds.

"I can see (the crash) on TV no problem, but in my head I can't really remember going off the jump and having that fear."

There were more jumps to handle on Wednesday on a hill that launched racers airborne, testing their balance and ability to improvise through an unfamiliar gate setting.

Among several racers who crashed, Tommy Biesemeyer of the US trailed Guay by just 0.30 before sliding out midway down the course.

Biesemeyer dislocated his left shoulder and was in a stable condition, race organizers said.

Olivier Jenot of Monaco sustained the most serious injury. He was airlifted by helicopter and treated in a hospital at nearby Chur for lung bruising and internal bleeding.

Though Norway's men won five of the past seven Olympic titles in super-G, the nation's winless streak at the worlds was extended to nine.

Jansrud and Kilde were 1-2 in the leader's box, separated by just 0.09 after Kilde's wild ride down the final slope, and celebrated by bumping fists in the finish area.

Guay then raced down, leading Jansrud at every time check.

"Erik today showed us how it's supposed to be done. I'm not feeling any disappointment over that," said Jansrud, the youngest of the medalists at 31.

Guay took the record for oldest world champion from Hannes Reichelt, who set it winning the super-G two years ago in Beaver Creek, Colorado. The Austrian placed 10th on Wednesday.

Though it has been seven years since Guay won a season-long World Cup title in super-G, his third-place finish in December in Val Gardena, Italy, hinted at his potential.

Osborne-Paradis had not finished on a World Cup downhill podium in almost two years, and not since November 2009 in super-G. He began this season wearing bib numbers in the 50s as an unconsidered longshot.

Wearing No 26, still outside the top-ranked group, he was inspired by his long-time friend.

"I got pretty fired up because of Erik," said Osborne-Paradis, who returned to form three months after becoming a father. "It was more intense having a kid, I can tell you. You can't unsee those things."

Switzerland's best result was eighth-place Carlo Janka, trailing Guay by 0.99.

Its main pre-race hope, Beat Feuz, was 12th, and now has Jansrud and the revived Canadians carrying momentum into Saturday's marquee downhill.

Duct tape binds Vonn's title hopes

Lindsey Vonn, who has limited movement in her right hand from an injury sustained last November, said on Wednesday duct tape might be the key to success for her at the world championships in St. Moritz.

Vonn, skiing with a weakened right hand, lost her grip on her pole during Tuesday's super-G and failed to finish the race as efforts to regain her grip forced her to miss a gate.

"I was so distracted, I was trying to stay in the rhythm and I knew where I was on the course but I wasn't attacking I was just trying to figure out what was going on. Should I lose my pole? Should I try to get it back?," Vonn told Eurosport during its coverage of the FIS World Ski Championships.

"And by the last section I put it against my thigh and I got it back, but I wasn't sure how I skied because I was distracted and thought I needed to make up some time so I pushed the line a little bit and went too straight. So now I'm using duct tape to hold it."

Vonn, 32, had surgery last November after breaking her right arm in a training crash in Colorado that left her hand nearly useless for a month.

In her first run at the world championships, Vonn's pole escaped her limited grip when her hand hit the snow. With the pole dangling by a strap, Vonn managed to regain control but by then had lost her concentration.

Turning to duct tape is nothing new for Vonn, who said she used the same strategy for half a season in 2009 after she cut her thumb on a broken champagne bottle and severed a tendon.

"I've done it before. It's kind of annoying as once you are taped in you can't get it out, so I need a bit of help at the start," said Vonn. "But at least I know my pole is going to stay on and I don't have to think about it."