Walchhofer Gets Second Chance

He improved on his time slightly, clocking the ninth fastest, but a jury later ruled that his second run should not count.

Austrian Michael Walchhofer completed two gruelling downhills within an hour on Saturday but still finished without a world championships medal.

The 2003 world champion was allowed to restart after clocking the 12th fastest time down the rock-hard, icy Bellevarde piste.

Walchhofer was granted a second chance after a protest by the Austrian team, arguing officials should not have let him start his run because of poor visibility.

He improved on his time slightly, clocking the ninth fastest, but a jury later ruled that his second run should not count.

A decision by officials to start-stop the race due to poor visibility had actually been taken after he had set off for his first run, the jury ruled, and Walchhofer placed 12th in the official results.

"It was a revolution in skiing today. Thanks to Michael, we will race downhills in two legs from now on," joked his team mate Hermann Maier, downhill world champion in 1999 who finished sixth on Saturday.

His rivals were full of praise for Walchhofer's effort.

"Hats off to him," said Swiss Didier Cuche, who finished second to surprise winner John Kucera of Canada.

"Had I been asked to go the start again, I wouldn't have done it. He deserves a medal.

But Olympic downhill silver medallist Walchhofer was disillusioned.

"It's a big disappointment," he said before learning about the jury's decision. "I did not come here to finish ninth after going through a re-run.

"There was a lot of confusion at the start. I put my boots on and off, I did not know whether I should wait or go. It was a mess."