BEIJING — Austrian skier Matthias Mayer defended his title in the super‑G on Tuesday at the Beijing Games and added a third Olympic gold medal to his collection.
Mayer broke Norway’s 16-year grip on the men’s Olympic super‑G title when he won gold at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. That was four years after he won the downhill title at the Sochi Olympics.
The 31-year-old Mayer also earned bronze on Monday in the rescheduled men’s downhill. Swiss rival Beat Fuez won that event but skied out near the top in Tuesday’s race.
Ryan Cochran-Siegle, an American who is from Vermont, finished second, 0.04 seconds behind Mayer.
“What’s up Vermont? Hope that holds,” the 29-year-old Cochran-Siegle said after crossing the finish line.
Cochran-Siegle’s silver medal came almost 50 years to the day after his mother, Barbara Ann, won gold in the slalom at the 1972 Sapporo Games.
World Cup super‑G leader Aleksander Aamodt Kilde of Norway finished third, 0.42 behind Mayer, on the course known as The Rock.
Marco Odermatt of Switzerland was among the favorites but he lost control on a turn and went out shortly before the end of the course. Odermatt was slower than Kilde at the final checkpoint.
The 24-year-old Odermatt put his hands over his helmet as he skied down and then put his head on the barrier near the finish line. Odermatt, who is skiing in his first Olympics, finished seventh in the downhill.
Kilde and Odermatt have dominated the super‑G this season. Kilde has won three of the five World Cup races in the discipline to lead the standings over Odermatt, who has won the other two. Mayer is third in the standings.
Kilde is still seeking his first win in a major championship. He was fifth in Monday’s downhill in what was then his highest finish in nine Olympic starts.