Matthias Mayer barely clung to the course as he tore his way to a downhill gold medal. European Pressphoto Agency

Sochi, Russia

The downhill gold medal rarely goes to the prettiest skier on the mountain, or the one who manages a smooth and steady line down the icy steeps. Usually, the ski racer who prevails has his share of moments on the edge, appearing on the verge of catastrophe but managing to regain control and get his tips over the finish.

That is what Austrian Matthias Mayer did Sunday with a daring run at Rosa Khutor to win the gold medal with a time of 2:06.23, putting his country back on top of a skiing world it feels a near-divine right to dominate.

The 23-year-old Mayer, the 11th skier down the mountain, pulled off a run worthy of his near-namesake and countryman, the legendary Hermann Maier. He nearly wiped out some 85 seconds into the run, then flew off course on the final jump with the finish line in sight. The 2.2-mile run has a vertical drop of 3,500 feet and four nasty jumps, including one where the skiers flew some 60 yards down the hill.

But when he looked up at the board moments later, Mayer was a tenth of a second better than Norwegian Kjetil Jansrud. Though 19 skiers remained, including favorites Aksel Svindal and Bode Miller, Mayer's time would hold up. Only Italian Christof Innerhofer, who took the silver with a time of 2:06.29, would come close.

"Of course it means a lot to me," Mayer said. "It's really difficult to go down the track without mistakes." It was the second Olympic medal for the Mayer family—his father Helmut Mayer won the super-G silver in 1988.

Miller, the man to beat after his top performances in training, blasted out of the start and was three-tenths of a second ahead of Mayer's pace a third of the way down. But he made a crucial error, losing his line midway through the course at a tricky rise near the Bear's Brow. He lost nearly a second and couldn't make up the time on the flatter, bottom part of the hill that favors gliders.

With the weather near 40 degrees and the sun breaking through as the race went on, Miller, who started 15th, said the increasing humidity slowed the course down, making it harder for the skiers who started later.

Austrian gold medalist Matthias Mayer makes a turn in the men's downhill at the Sochi Winter Olympics, on Feb. 9, in Krasnaya Polyana, Russia. Associated Press

"I didn't make a lot of mistakes," said Miller, who finished eighth, 0.52 second off the lead. "Sometimes the clock doesn't judge you fairly." Mayer agreed, saying the early skiers may have had an advantage.

"We've got two-minute intervals between each racer," Miller said. "Twenty minutes can make a huge difference."

Svindal, who started three places after Miller and finished fourth, said the conditions weren't a factor. "It's not a huge deal, I could have won." Innerhofer started 20th.

Travis Ganong, the top American on Sunday, finished fifth, 0.31 second away from the podium. "I went out there and made some turns and had some fun," Ganong said.

One pattern that emerged was skiers losing significant chunks of time in the middle third of the race, as the run shifted from the steep, technical top with sharp turns, into a faster, wider trail. It was as if after surviving the treachery, they let up slightly, slipping out of the aerodynamic tuck that propels them down the hill.

"The guys who did well today just really, really let it go," said American Steve Nyman, who finished 27th.

Mayer figured as much Saturday in training, when he put on the brakes in his last practice run to remain fresh for when it counted.

"I knew in the last two intermediate times I could be very fast," he said. "I saved some power for today. That was very important for me today."

And very important for Austria, too.

Write to Matthew Futterman at