Maier Doubtful For Men`s Downhill

Austria will name their four-man downhill team after the last training session scheduled for Friday, the coach added.

Hermann Maier, suffering from a cold, is a doubtful starter for Saturday's blue-riband downhill at the world Alpine skiing championships, the Austrian team said on Thursday.

Maier, who finished 18th in the opening men's event, Tuesday's super-G, said he still felt weak and needed time to recover.

"He was not fit in the super-G and still isn't", Austrian coach Toni Giger told reporters. "We don't want him to compete if he's not able to give his best and neither does he want to."

Austria will name their four-man downhill team after the last training session scheduled for Friday, the coach added.

Michael Walchhofer and Klaus Kroell are certain to win a spot, with Christoph Gruber and Georg Streitberger likely to take the next two if Maier pulls out.

If Maier were ruled fit to take part, he would join Walchhofer and Kroell in the team and the fourth spot would be decided between Gruber and Streitberger.

"For us Maier is number three in the team behind Kroell and Walchhofer but at the moment there's a big question mark," Giger said.

The 36-year-old Maier, who won six medals including three golds from previous world championships, is regarded as one of the greatest skiers of all time but is no longer as awe-inspiring as in his prime.

Maier himself said after a training run on Thursday that he was still ill.

"It's not perfect but, hopefully, it will get better," he told reporters.