BEAVER CREEK — Max Franz of Austria was the fastest racer in a downhill training run Wednesday along the demanding Beaver Creek course.
Racing fifth overall, Franz’s time of 1 minute, 39.91 seconds wound up 0.40 seconds ahead of Matthieu Bailet of France. Adrian Smiseth Sejersted of Norway was 0.53 seconds behind.
The American contingent was in the field a day after it was announced one of their racers tested positive for the coronavirus and was ruled out for the four World Cup races this week at Beaver Creek. The other members of the U.S. team were retested and kept apart from fellow racers. The U.S. squad warmed up in a separate zone before the training run.
“We’ve been really safe. So it just goes to show that, yeah, we’re still living in this world and anyone can get it at any time,” said American racer Travis Ganong, who finished 1.77 seconds behind Franz’s time. “We’ve been so careful. We’re going to continue to be careful.”
The top American was Jared Goldberg, who was 1.65 seconds behind the time of Franz.
The Birds of Prey course will hold a super-G race Thursday. The event in Beaver Creek was canceled last season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.