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Matthias Mayer of Austria won the Olympic downhill in Sochi on Sunday. Mayer finished the Rosa Khutor course in 2 minutes, 6.23 seconds. Christof Innerhofer of Italy won silver and Kjetil Jansrud of Norway won bronze. Canadas Erik Guay finished 10th. Teammates Ben Thompson, Jan Hudec and Manuel Osborne-Paradis finished 19th, 21st and 25th respectively. Pre-race favorite Aksel Lund Svindal fourth and American Bode Miller finished eighth. Mayer was one of the first contenders to come down, with the No. 11 bib, and he hardly celebrated when he reached the finish. But his smile grew wider as all the favorites failed to catch him. Miller was one of the fastest skiers on the top section but lost speed when he hit a gate on a right turn a bit further down. "He pinched it off and went into the gate," Italian skier Dominik Paris said. "It was a critical section there." After crossing the finish, Miller sat down on his skis with a look of bewilderment on his face. That was understandable, considering that the American had dominated two of the three official training sessions. Svindal was also fast on top but lost speed when his large frame went soaring into the air over the big jumps lining the rest of the course. Mayer is short and compact and appeared more aerodynamic over the jumps. Mayeris one of the more surprising gold medalists in the sports marquee race, as he has never before finished better than fifth in a World Cup downhill. But Mayer led the second downhill training session and was third in the opening session. His father, Helmut, won a silver medal in the super-G at the 1988 Calgary Games. Mayer was not even supposed to be Austrias top contender but he was thrust into that position when Hannes Reichelt was sidelined with back surgery after winning the prestigious Kitzbuehel downhill on home snow two weeks ago. Ski-loving Austria has won more mens downhills at the Olympics than any other nation, six of 17, but the last came in 2002 from Fritz Strobl, who happens to be from the same region in southern Austria as Mayer. So is Franz Klammer, who won the 1976 Innsbruck Games downhill. Mayer has had more success in super-G, including a silver medal at the 2008 junior world championships and two second-place World Cup showings. Those super-G skills suited him well for the Olympic downhill course, which was extremely technical. At 3.5 kilometers (2.17 miles), the Rosa Khutor piste was also one of the most physically demanding tests skiers faced all season. With three big jumps, one of which sent skiers soaring into the air for 70 meters (yards), it provided for a spectacular race. However, the stands were only half full at the start due to an apparent traffic problem. They only filled up as the race wore on. Skies were cloudy and the temperature was slightly above freezing. The next event on the Alpine schedule is the womens super-combined Monday, followed by the womens downhill Wednesday. Garret Sparks Jersey . Vonn punctuated her near-perfect season in perfect fashion Friday, earning her fourth overall World Cup title with a dominating giant slalom victory. Andreas Johnsson Maple Leafs Jersey . The Big Man finished 3-1 in Week 19, and sits at 53-24 on the season. Now Schultz is ready for more action. http://www.officialmapleleafsfanstore.co...leafs-jersey/.J. -- Fabian Johnson scored his first international goal and Clint Dempsey doubled the lead after a defensive lapse as the United States beat Turkey 2-1 Sunday in the second of three World Cup warm-up matches for the Americans before they head to Brazil. Darryl Sittler Maple Leafs Jersey . Wheeler scored at 4:58 of overtime, with Scheifele getting an assist, and the Jets beat the slumping Colorado Avalanche 2-1 on Sunday night. Kasperi Kapanen Jersey . Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.KANSAS CITY, Kan. - The first sign that Kansas Speedway was going to be a heartbreaker for Hendrick Motorsports should have come during qualifying when Jimmie Johnson inexplicably spun and earned one of his worst starting spots since 2005.Even that couldnt prepare the organization for the trouble it encountered during Sundays race.Johnson was involved in an early accident and finished 40th, which dropped the six-time and defending NASCAR champion to last in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship standings. It was Johnsons worst Chase finish since the 2005 season finale.It only got worse from there for the Hendrick cars. Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a tire problem while leading and hit the wall, cause finish since the 2005 season finale.It only got worse from there for the Hendrick cars. Dale Earnhardt Jr. hading him to finish 39th. Then Kasey Kahne also hit the wall — he too believed it was caused by a tire problem — and finished 22nd.Even Jeff Gordon, who finished a team-best 14th, had a problem. A tire got away from his pit crew during a stop, earning a penalty for the four-time series champion.A lot of people had trouble, so today was a real survival day, Gordon said.But Kahne, Earnhardt and Johnson are now at the bottom of the 12-driver field, and four will be eliminated in two weeks after Talladega. It means theyve got to be above average Saturday night at Charlotte to avoid having their championship hopes depend on Talladega.A win earns a driver an automatic berth into the next round, and on Sunday it went to Joey Logano, who picked up his fifth victory of the season.Johnson wants to also earn that automatic berth.It just means weve got to be on our game at Charlotte and Talladega, Johnson said. Certainly need Ws, I would assume, going forward.Here are some other major developments from the fourth race in the 10-race Chase:LOGANO SURGES: With his win on Sunday at Kansas, Logano once again proved hes going to be tough to beat in this race for the Sprint Cup.Hes won in both rounds of the Chase to stay alive in the elimination format, and his career-best five wins this season is tied with teammate Brad Keselowski for most in the series.Getting us to the next round, thats awesome, Logano said. Im having a blast this year, and weve got a real shot to win this championship. I feel like were one of the teams to beat.MIXED BAG: Although Keselowski visited his teammate in Victory Lane, the Team Penske group had mixed emotions at the end of the race.He was also felled by a tiire problem and finished 36th, lamenting after that the Goodyear issues turned the race into a game of Russian Roulette and it was our turn at the gun.ddddddddddddTeam owner Roger Penske said the focus must now turn to Charlotte and not what happened to Keselowski at Kansas.These races, when theyre over, theyre over, Penske said. Obviously well do whatever we can to help him. The whole team will. But the thing we cant do is make a big right or left turn here. Weve got to take on the same track were on.HARVICK NOT HAPPY: Kevin Harvick once again had one of the fastest cars on the track and nothing to show for it at the end of the race.He led 61 laps and was third when he headed to pit road with what he believed was a flat tire. His Stewart-Haas Racing crew found nothing wrong with the tires, but the damage was done: Harvick had dropped to 23rd, was out of contention for the victory and had to charge his way back to a 12th-place finish. He apologized to his crew over his radio.I thought I had a flat tire and pitted because you see all the trouble that is going on, he said after the race, explaining his car simply didnt turn.LARSON, AGAIN: Kyle Larson continued to creep closer and closer to his first career Sprint Cup Series victory with his second-place finish.Larson, a rookie who did not qualify for the Chase, has finished second in two of the last three races and was in a late battle for the win at Chicago before finishing third. Hes not finished lower than sixth since the Chase began.I definitely feel like Ive been running a lot better than what I thought I would to start the season, but I thought I would make the Chase, too, Larson said. I think midpoint through the season, I noticed I was running better than what our goals were and raised those goals into top 10s, and now the way weve been running, we want to be top-5 every week.BIG DAY FOR BUSCH: Kyle Busch has seen his championship hopes come to a crashing halt many times at Kansas, a track that he simply couldnt get a grasp of in the Cup Series.He finally ended his unlucky streak Sunday, a day after he won the Nationwide Series race, with a career-best third-place finish. It gave Busch a top-five finish at every active track on the Cup schedule, and moved him to second in the Chase standings.I won today, I just didnt get champagne and a trophy, he said. To get through Kansas feels nice. ' ' '