Norway's Atle Skaardal blitzed the field to win the World Cup men's downhill race by nearly a second Saturday over American Tommy Moe.
Skaardal, who missed most of last season with a knee injury, covered the 3.8-kilometer course on Whistler Mountain in 2 minutes, 10.97 seconds. Moe, a 23-year-old Alaskan, was timed in 2:11.95. Switzerland's Franz Heinzer was third in 2:12.09."I was very impatient at the start of the season," said the 27-year-old Skaardal, who finished fourth in two World Cup races this year and second at the recent Alpine World Championships in Japan. "I wanted to come back to the top three as soon as possible.
"I was skiing too tense. Now I'm more relaxed."
Moe, who grew up in Whitefish, Mont., enjoyed the best finish of his career.
"When I saw second on the board I laughed for five minutes," he said. "I was fired up. This course is right up my alley. I was looking for speed all the way down."