10:30 | Good morning from Gardena-Gröden!
10:31 | A crystal clear blue sky is awaiting racers and spectators, alike.
10:40 | We will inform you live on the race starting at 12:00 noon.
10:45 | As always, in German, Italian and English. Join us!
10:53 | Here a current snap-shot of the beautiful conditions that are expecting racers here on the Saslong: http://twitpic.com/3h0ywt. Thank you, Brian Pinelli!
11:55 | 20 minutes to go to the start of the Downhill. Here are few current pictures from the course recognizance and the Finish stadium: /?pagid=312&newlang=eng
12:05 | Hans Knauss from the ORF Austrian TV company has just descended on his video run.
12:05 | Knauss has taken a long jump at the tunnel. This promises to be an exceptionally spectacular day on the Saslong here at the Finish!
12:07 | The first forerunner is on the course.
12:08 | There are a total of 69 athletes at the start, today.
12:09 | Let's remember, Manuel Osborne-Paradis has taken last year's gold ahead of Mario Scheiber and Ambrosi Hoffman.
12:09 | Scheiber decided not to race today due to his knee injury during the training run. Nevertheless, the Austrian team is still in good spirits.
12:10 | Top favorite to win today's race is Michi Walchhofer who has taken home the gold medal in yesterday's Super-G thus bringing his total wins in Gardena-Gröden to four!
12:10 | But let's not lose sight of Didier Cuche and Bode Miller, to name but two of the favorites to win here today. Also, Christof Innerhofer with the final training's best run could provide for a surprise.
12:12 | It won't be long for the favorites to descend today. Miller is starting with bib 8, Fill with 9, Guay with 10, Cuche with 17 and Walchhofer with 22.
12:15 | Ready, set, go! Patrik Jaerbyn is at the Start.
12:15 | His face is covered - no wonder given the -15 degree C and speeds of 100 km/h.
12:18 | Jaerbyn is off!
12:18 | One thing is for certain: jumps are long today
12:19 | Great leap for Jaerbyn at the Camel Humps.
12:20 | Entry Ciaslat: Jarbyn is off the ideal line.
12:20 | His time at the finish is 1:57.81 minutes, clearly much faster than in the training.
12:20 | On to the first Austrian, Georg Streitberger.
12:21 | And he is already lagging.
12:21 | Over a second behind Jaerbyn.
12:21 | Unbelievable, how far the jump over the Camel Humps is taking skiers today.
12:21 | Streitberger dominates the Cialat in a better manner than Jaerbyn.
12:22 | But he still crosses the finish line with one and 53/100 second delay compared to Jaerbyn.
12:23 | Our first impression: the course has been covered by a thin layer of snow which makes it slower.
12:23 | Marco Sullivan has started. He already placed fourth twice here in Gardena-Gröden.
12:23 | Sullivan falls right after the Camel Humps.
12:24 | He turns and falls into the safety nets.
12:24 | But he is back on his feet and luckily not injured.
12:25 | David Poisson, the first French men, is on the course.
12:25 | Also Poisson has fallen.
12:25 | He fell on the Camel Humps.
12:26 | He flew over the Camel Humps as if he were a free-styler.
12:26 | He is still on the ground. No, he is up on his feet.
12:27 | Poisson leaves the course on his own ability. There will be a few bruises tomorrow.
12:29 | One of Poisson's ski has taken the wrong edge and he left the jump already in mid-air. Thanks to the amazing body control these athletes have, Poisson was able to control the fall. Well done!
12:29 | The race is back on. Adrien Theuax is off.
12:29 | Seems as if he is also having some difficulties with speed today.
12:30 | Theaux clocks an intermediate time that is one second and 13/100 behind Jaerbyn.
12:31 | He is not able to challenge Jaerbyn's time.
12:32 | Will Rok Perko be able to take the lead. He is very fast at the top.
12:33 | No, his intermediate time is lagging significantly. Perko has issues with Ciaslat and is over 3 seconds behind.
12:33 | Perko's delay is even larger at the finish: 4 seconds.
12:34 | Tobias Grünenfelder has started. He is Swiss.
12:34 | It looks like he will not be skiing into the lead today, although there are no clear mistakes he made.
12:35 | Mistakes came on Ciaslat, however, and he crosses the line with 2 seconds delay.
12:35 | On to Bode Miller. Let's watch!
12:36 | Let's see what Jaerbyn's time is worth.
12:36 | Looks like it is worth quite a bit as Miller is already 1 second behind.
12:36 | He is clearly strong on the technical part of the course but will it be enough?
12:37 | No. Bode Miller places 2nd with 93/100 delay.
12:38 | On to the next, Italian Peter Fill.
12:39 | Fill takes a wide line on Ciaslat. Looks like the Saslong is not made for him.
12:39 | Peter Fill at the Finish with 87/100 seconds delay.
12:40 | Eric Guay is next. We have high expectations for him. Also lagging behind, however.
12:40 | Eric Guay is closing in on the margin.
12:41 | Guay skis onto 2nd place at the Finish. The first skier to even get close to Jaerbyn's time with 37/100 seconds delay.
12:42 | Hans Olsson is also fast. But looks like Jaerbyn skied perfectly on the top.
12:43 | Hans Olsson crosses the Finish line with 84/100 seconds delay.
12:45 | Jaerbyn has placed 6th in the Downhill in Gardena-Gröden before, and a third place in the Super-G (2008).
12:45 | The first 15 skiers have finished. Erik Guay has been the only one able to mess with Jaerbyn's time.
12:45 | Jaerbyn placed 6th in Gardena-Gröden in 2004.
12:45 | Several skiers have issues on the jumps.
12:46 | Hans Grugger was meant to start with number 15 but he missed yesterday's bib lottery and was moved to the end of the start list. The FIS is very strict.
12:46 | Now on to the fastest group. Aksel Lund Svindal is first at the starting gate.
12:46 | The Norwegian is already lagging by half a second at the top.
12:46 | Great leap over the Camel Humps. His delay is increasing.
12:46 | Svindal is not able to stick to his perfect line here on the Saslong today.
12:46 | Svindal at the Finish on 6
12:46 | Now on to Didier Cuche. He really wants to win here in Gardena-Gröden having taken silver already twice.
12:46 | And he is very fast at the top. 11/100 seconds behind Jaerbyn.
12:47 | Nobody was as fast as he is - except Jaerbyn.
12:47 | Cuche is on Ciaslat over half a second ahead of Jaerbyn, but he commits a big mistake in this passage.
12:47 | Will it be enough?
12:50 | It is enough: Cuche takes the lead with 50/100 seconds ahead Jaerbyn.
12:51 | And yes, he does perform his famous ski trick at the Finish!
12:51 | Carlo Janka also places well: 3rd place with 65/100 delay.
12:52 | On to the key group. The top skiers are next.
12:53 | Klausi Kröll is very fast at the top.
12:54 | Only 6/100 behind Cuche at the intermediate time.
12:55 | Kröll has already convinced in the training. But he also commits a mistake on Ciaslat.
12:56 | 1/100 of a second behind Cuche, Kröll places 2nd at the Finish.
12:57 | Manuel Osborne-Paradis, last year's winner, is next.
12:58 | Will the tight time game be on Cuche side? He missed gold by 2/100 when he placed 2nd and is only 1/100 ahead of Kröll.
12:59 | Osborne-Paradis will not be able to reach the top today. His delay is already too large at the top.
13:00 | He skis on rank 4 at the Finish with 64/100 seconds delay.
13:01 | Now our hopes run high for local favorite Werner Heel.
13:02 | He is just recovering from a hand injury, but still wants to go on full attack. He is going strong at the top.
13:05 | Looks like Heel will not ski for gold today. His delay is already over a second at the Camel Humps.
13:05 | He reaches the finish on place 10 with 1.47 seconds delay.
13:06 | Now all eyes on Michi Walchhofer. This is his last race on Saslong. Will he be able to capture his fifth gold?
13:07 | He is going strong at the top. Ahead by 8/100.
13:07 | Next intermediate time is 3/100 seconds behind but he makes a mistake at the exit of Ciaslat after mastering the upper part perfectly.
13:07 | Walchi is giving it all.
13:08 | Walchhofer is on place 3 with 25/100 seconds behind Cuche.
13:08 | Walchhofer has not been able to capitalize on today's race although we were hoping for him. Well, maybe he will consider to start one more time in next season just to try to capture that fifth gold on the Saslong.
13:11 | Silvan Zurbriggen has started and is taking the lead at the top.
13:11 | Will Zurbriggen be able to provide for a sensation? He has never even reached the podium in Downhill.
13:11 | But he makes a mistake in the middle, his lead, however is still at 24/100.
13:12 | Unbelievable, he has caught up: now he is in the lead!
13:12 | Will Zurbriggen be able to bring home the gold here in Gardena-Gröden?
13:13 | Silvain Zurbriggen is ahead of fellow country-man Cuche!

13:13 | 24/100 advantage for Zurbriggen
13:14 | Another Swiss athlete is on its way.
13:14 | Ambrosi Hoffman has reached the finish but lands on rank 13.
13:15 | Pirmin Zurbriggen, the great World Cup star from Switzerland in the '80 has won here on the Saslong in the past.
13:15 | The second French skier has fallen.
13:16 | After David Poisson it is Johan Clarey that fell on the Ciaslat.
13:17 | But he is back on his feet.
13:18 | The race is still interrupted after Clarey's fall. The safety nets have to be reset.
13:22 | Romed Baumann has started. He placed 5th yesterday and is extremely fast at the top.
13:22 | Will it be a top-ten ranking for Baumann in the Downhill?
13:22 | Baumann skis well, only 20/100 seconds behind.
13:23 | Unbelievable, Romed Baumann has caught up and crosses the Finish on rank two! 6/100 behind Zurbriggen.
13:23 | Now on to the training run's fastest: Christof Innerhofer.
13:23 | The Saslong is not exactly to his liking.
13:23 | And it doesn't look as if they are turning this into a much tighter friendship today. He is already lagging by 1 second at the top.
13:24 | Oh no, Christof clearly skis off the ideal line on Ciaslat.
13:24 | Innerhofer is 1.7 seconds behind and places 14th, a place behind his team mate Werner Heel.
13:32 | The first 30 athletes have finished the race. We will be here with you for the rest of the race because the Saslong has not been short of surprises in the past.
13:32 | Didier Cuche at the Finish: It could have been better if not for that mistake on the Ciaslat. But I was a little nervous at the start after watching Poisson's fall on TV.
13:52 | Hans Grugger is at the start. He has been put to the end of the list because he was late to the bib lottery last night.
13:52 | Grugger places 17th at the Finish.
13:54 | We are also waiting for German Andreas Sander who will start with bib 55.
13:54 | He was third in the final training run.
13:57 | Great race by Tobias Stechert. The German started with bib 48 and places 15th.
13:58 | Guillermo Fayed is starting right after Stechert. The French-man is very fast at the top.
13:58 | Fayet places 6th at the Finish! Great race!
14:03 | Will Stephan Keppler be able to match yesterday's Super-G silver in today's Downhill?
14:03 | Not exactly, but he still lands on rank 10.
14:06 | Andreas Sander is at the Finish. The famous training run was not repeated and he places 26th. But this is still a great results for him. And it will bring him a few World Cup points.
14:07 | Well maybe: Louise-Pierre Helie from Canada lands on rank 13 starting with bib 56.
14:09 | It is imperative to wait until every skier has finished here in Gardena-Gröden. Today was another lesson in this.
14:09 | Benjamin Thomson, also from Canada, convinces with a great performance landing on rank 16.
14:10 | There are 10 more skiers at the start. Silvan Zurbriggen will probably wait it out before starting to cheer.
14:24 | Kevin Esteve Rigail from Andorra skiing with bib 67 has taken a fall. He is back on his feet already.
14:27 | The last skier of the Downhill in Gardena-Gröden 2010 is at the start.
14:32 | The race is done.
14:32 | We bid our farewell for this season from the Finish at the Saslong.
14:33 | Plaese visit as at www.saslong.org for information, news, interviews, videos and great pictures of today's race.