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Lenzerheide, Switzerland • Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway retook the lead in the overall World Cup standings on Wednesday by placing fifth in a downhill won by Olympic champion Matthias Mayer of Austria.

Svindal earned 45 points to move 41 ahead of two-time defending overall champion Marcel Hirscher of Austria, who skips downhills.

"If I had to put money on someone I have no idea who it would be," said Svindal, who will race against Hirscher in a super-G on Thursday.

Mayer earned his first career World Cup win in 1 minute, 29.99 seconds, 0.11 faster than Christof Innerhofer of Italy and Ted Ligety of the United States, who tied for second. Svindal was 0.20 seconds behind Mayer.

Mayer and Innerhofer finished 1-2 in the downhill at the Sochi Olympics.

"It's very important," Mayer said of his win. "It was a target for me to win a World Cup race this year. It's perfect."

Ligety's career-best result in downhill lifted him to third in the overall standings. His previous best in downhill was fourth, in 2007 at Lenzerheide where the steep, twisting course suits his technical skills.

"This is a hill I know I have a good chance on," said Ligety, the world champion in super-G. "I also don't count on this carrying through to other races on the World Cup downhill tour."

Svindal, a two-time overall champion, already clinched his second straight season-long downhill title before the World Cup Finals.

"I used to be 1-2-3 every race, and now I'm 4-5-6," said the Norwegian, who has finished just off the podium since the Olympics. "But Marcel is too."

Svindal is scheduled to start the giant slalom on Saturday, but skip Sunday's season-ending slalom which is typically Hirscher's best event.

Bode Miller of the United States seemed poised for victory on Wednesday until going wide near the end of his run. He placed eighth, 0.62 behind Mayer.

Several racers found trouble on the hard, bumpy snow despite the clear, sunny conditions. Austrian Georg Streitberger twisted in the air while crashing when more than a half-second ahead of Mayer midway down.

The final women's downhill of the season was to start less than an hour later down the same 2.3-kilometer (1.4-mile) Silvano Beltrametti course. —

Men's World Cup Downhill Results

Wednesday

At Lenzerheide, Switzerland

1. Matthias Mayer, Austria, 1:29.99.

2. Christof Innerhofer, Italy, 1:30.10.

2. Ted Ligety, United States, 1:30.10.

4. Peter Fill, Italy, 1:30.12.

5. Aksel Lund Svindal, Norway, 1:30.19.

6. Travis Ganong, United States, 1:30.51.

7. Sandro Viletta, Switzerland, 1:30.55.

8. Bode Miller, United States, 1:30.61.

9. Carlo Janka, Switzerland, 1:30.79.

10. Adrien Theaux, France, 1:30.98.

11. Patrick Kueng, Switzerland, 1:30.99.

12. Kjetil Jansrud, Norway, 1:31.26.

13. Manuel Osborne-Paradis, Canada, 1:31.36.

14. Adrian Smiseth Sejersted, Norway, 1:31.46.

15. Max Franz, Austria, 1:31.62.

16. Klaus Kroell, Austria, 1:31.66.

17. Dominik Paris, Italy, 1:31.79.

18. Johan Clarey, France, 1:32.73.

19. Erik Guay, Canada, 1:32.76.

World Cup Downhill Standings

(After nine races)

1. Aksel Svindal, Norway, 570 points.

2. Hannes Reichelt, Austria, 360.

3. Erik Guay, Canada, 357.

4. Kjetil Jansrud, Norway, 328.

5. Patrick Kueng, Switzerland, 307.

5. Matthias Mayer, Austria, 307.

7. Johan Clarey, France, 273.

8. Bode Miller, United States, 264.

9. Travis Ganong, United States, 250.

10. Adrien Theaux, France, 248.

Also

26. Ted Ligety, United States, 80.

28. Marco Sullivan, United States, 71.

35. Steven Nyman, United States, 45.

37. Erik Fisher, United States 27.

39. Jared Goldberg, United States, 22.

Overall World Cup Standings

(After 31 events)

1. Aksel Svindal, Norway, 1091.

2. Marcel Hirscher, Austria, 1050.

3. Ted Ligety, United States, 824.

4. Alexis Pinturault, France, 819.

5. Felix Neureuther, Germany, 673.

6. Kjetil Jansrud, Norway, 625.

7. Henrik Kristoffersen, Norway, 583.

8. Bode Miller, United States, 557.

9. Matthias Mayer, Austria, 552.

10. Patrick Kueng, Switzerland, 546.

Also

26. Travis Ganong, United States, 314.

49. Tim Jitloff, United States, 129.

62. David Chodounsky, United States, 93.

69. Andrew Weibrecht, United States, 72.

71. Marco Sullivan, United States, 71.

81. Jared Goldberg, United States, 57.

83. Steven Nyman, United States, 54.

98. Erik Fisher, United States, 30.

113. Nolan Kasper, United States, 18.

129. Will Brandenburg, United States, 8.

145. Robby Kelley, United States, 3.