Maier's return, more problems for Australia
Julia Ferguson, Reuters, Wengen, Switzerland
Like a cat set among the pigeons, ski racer Hermann Maier's comeback to the sport he long dominated is causing havoc in his team.
The Austrian men had already been locked in a fierce battle among themselves for the very few tickets to the world championships in St Moritz next month.
Maier's unexpectedly abrupt return to competition after almost losing his right leg in a motorcycle accident 18 months ago throws yet another rogue element into the equation.
His credentials speak for themselves. He crowned his last season 22 months ago by capturing the overall, downhill, super-G and giant slalom World Cup titles and ended up with nearly double the points of his closest rival, Stephan Eberharter.
The 30-year-old, who is also a double world and Olympic champion, silenced the skeptics by pulling off a surprisingly strong performance on the longest downhill course of the World Cup on Friday.
Maier's 22nd place in only his second race after such a long absence rewarded him with a start place for the second downhill race at this Swiss resort on Saturday.
With a depth of talent unmatched in the sport -- nine of the top 15 racers in the blue-ribboned discipline of downhill are Austrian -- a strong performance in the remaining races at Wengen and Kitzbuehel is imperative for a ticket to St Moritz.
Each nation can field only four racers per discipline. Hannes Trinkl is spared the trauma of qualifying as he automatically receives a place in the downhill team as defending world champion.
Stephan Eberharter has also secured his ticket after winning five of the seven downhill so far this season. That leaves at least five racers competing for the remaining three spots.
Michael Walchhofer, who has transformed from a slalom skier into a speed specialist, is all but assured a place as the second-best Austrian this season with three runner-up finishes.
The other four, all of whom have reached the podium this season, are Klaus Kroell, Andreas Schifferer, Josef Strobl and Olympic champion Fritz Strobl.
In the slightly slower discipline of super-G the four berths are being fought over by Eberharter, Josef Strobl, Schifferer, Trinkl and Hannes Reichelt with just one race -- next week at Kitzbuehel -- left before the championships.
Olympic champion Eberharter, Adelboden winner Hans Knauss and Christian Mayer are set for the giant slalom team with no race left before St Moritz.
Austria can field five racers for the slalom since Mario Matt is defending champion. Rainer Schoenfelder, the nation's best slalom racer this season and currently fourth in the standings, Olympic bronze medalist Benjamin Raich and Manfred Pranger should also be assured of a start place.