Moeller earns first World Cup win as another injured skier is airlifted off 2026 Olympics slope

BORMIO, Italy (AP) — Fredrik Moeller of Norway claimed his first World Cup victory by winning a super-G that got off to an inauspicious start on Sunday as Gino Caviezel became the third skier this weekend to be airlifted off the slope set to be used for the 2026 Olympics.

After Alexis Monney’s debut World Cup win in the downhill the previous day, Moeller also recorded his first victory on the circuit with an early benchmark run down the fearsome Stelvio slope to finish 0.20 seconds ahead of Austrian skier Vincent Kriechmayr.

Monney, who was 27th out of the gate, threatened to knock Moeller out of the leader’s chair after the Swiss skier recovered from a poor start but finished third, just four hundredths of a second behind Kriechmayr — to Moeller’s obvious relief.

Like Monney, Moeller had never even been on the podium prior to this weekend. His previous best finish was fourth.

But the young guns clearly enjoyed the Stelvio, where the men’s Alpine skiing events are set to take place in 14 months at the Milan-Cortina Olympics.

Both Monney and Moeller are 24.

Moeller’s more lauded teammate Marco Odermatt leaves Bormio without a podium finish this weekend. As in the downhill, the three-time overall champion was fifth, sandwiched between two other Swiss teammates — Stefan Rogentin and Franjo von Allmen.

It was a miserable day for compatriot Gino Caviezel, however.

The 32-year-old was first out of the gates but crashed heavily early on and was taken to hospital by helicopter.

French standout Cyprien Sarrazin and Italian Pietro Zazzi were also taken off the slope by helicopter after crashing in separate incidents in downhill training on Friday.

Sarrazin underwent surgery to drain a bleed near the brain while Zazzi had an operation on his leg.

Odermatt still leads the super-G standings but has seen his advantage cut to just five points by Moeller. He leads the overall standings by 161 points.