KITZBUEHEL, Austria -- Canadian Ben Thomsen punched his ticket to the Sochi Winter Games on Saturday. [url=http://www.lightninghockeystore.us/Jt-Brown-Jersey/]J.T. Brown Jersey[/url] . The 26-year-old native of Invermere, B.C., finished 12th in a World Cup downhill race over the legendary Hahnenkamm c

KITZBUEHEL, Austria -- Canadian Ben Thomsen punched his ticket to the Sochi Winter Games on Saturday. J.T. Brown Jersey . The 26-year-old native of Invermere, B.C., finished 12th in a World Cup downhill race over the legendary Hahnenkamm course. Thomsen met the Tier 1 criteria for nomination to Canadas Olympic team in the final race before the qualification window closed. Hannes Reichelt became the first Austrian winner of the event in eight years on Saturday, posting a time of two minutes 3.38 seconds. Norways Aksel Lund Svindal was second in 2:03.59 while American Bode Miller took third in 2:03.72. Starting 50th overall, Thomsen had a time of 2:04.80. Vancouvers Manuel Osborne-Paradis was 16th while Jeffrey Frisch, of Mont-Tremblant, Que., was 28th to earn his first top-30 World Cup result of the season. "Its been a whole season of just trying to get in the points," said Thomsen, whose best previous World Cup result this season was 37th in downhill in Bormio, Italy. "You lose so much confidence when youre not getting results. "I wanted to go out there and I wanted to get an amazing result. For me, 12th was an amazing result. It was just good enough -- Im so happy I wasnt 13th! I would put it in the top-five best runs of my life, feeling-wise." Thomsen went into the race knowing he needed a top-12 finish to secure an Olympic berth. When he crossed the finish line Saturday, Thomsen let out a loud yell. "Theres just something about Kitzbuhel,"he said. "There are so many people here and they love ski racing so much. "Its been a tough year but the team is always right behind you, pushing you, supporting you. When you come through the finish area and you look over to your teammates and see them smiling and celebrating its really special." With the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone looking on, Reichelt avoided the mistakes his rivals had made earlier. He was loudly cheered by 50,000 spectators when the green light for the fastest time appeared on the time table in the finish area. "This is like dream," said Reichelt, and admitted he had "little tears in my eyes" during the flower ceremony. "Being an Austrian, coming down this course and winning here in front of all these fans, is a huge present," he said. "This is a real highlight of my career. If you win here, you are a legend." Michael Walchhofer was the last Austrian to win in Kitzbuehel in 2006, and Reichelts victory will be a big boost to the Austrian mens team two weeks before the start of the Sochi Olympics. The former "Wunderteam" left Vancouver without a medal four years ago and is poised to improve next month. Just 15 minutes before the race, Reichelt wasnt even sure he was going to start. Suffering from persistent back problem, the 33-year-old Austrian did some free skiing to find out whether he would be able to compete without unbearable pain. "I wasnt feeling too well (Saturday)," Reichelt said. "But I dont want to talk too much about my back problems. "If you win a race, it cant be too bad." Reichelt celebrated his seventh career win but only second in the discipline. Reichelt was also the last Austrian to win a World Cup downhill, in Bormio in 2012. By finishing second, Svindal extended his lead in the overall standings to 102 points over second-place Marcel Hirscher of Austria, who doesnt compete in downhill. Svindal also tops the downhill standings, leading Reichelt by 440-360 points. The Norwegian, who won a super-G here last year, is still chasing his first downhill win at the Streif. "Coming second in Kitzbuehel isnt too bad for a result," Svindal said. "Bode had a mistake, otherwise he would have been unbeatable. I was happy that I was ahead of him when I finished, but I knew you could be faster. And Hannes showed just that." It was the first downhill podium for Miller in almost two years. The American returned to the circuit this season after sitting out the complete 2012-13 campaign following micro-fracture surgery on his left knee. Miller had dominated the only training session two days ago but had a costly mistake during the race when he came off the race line at the Seidalm section halfway down the course. "Winning training runs doesnt do it for you," Miller said. "Youve got to execute on race day. Its too many times that Ive made these stupid mistakes that arent really forced. They are not forced errors. Its not on a tough part of the course, its just a real basic part. So, its pretty heartbreaking." The Hahnenkamm weekend is concluded by two World Cup events Sunday, with a super-G race that also counts as the first portion of a super-combined, followed by one floodlit slalom run. Tampa Bay Lightning Jerseys . - Skiing far more aggressively than in her season debut a day earlier, Lindsey Vonn was in provisional 10th place after the first 45 skiers in a World Cup downhill on Saturday. Vincent Lecavalier Jersey . Felix Pie had an RBI double earlier in the inning, as Baltimore rallied for three runs to overcome a 3-2 deficit. J.J. Hardy had two hits and Matt Wieters chipped in with an RBI double for the Orioles, who pushed their winning streak to three games. http://www.lightninghockeystore.us/Erik-Condra-Jersey/ . Louis Cardinals continued their offensive tear with a 9-5 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the opener of a four-game series.INDIANAPOLIS -- Indianapolis Motor Speedway officially opened for the month of May with a chaotic road course race that started with a wreck, saw Canadian James Hinchliffe and the mayor of the city injured by flying debris, and, finally, Simon Pagenaud celebrate a fuel-mileage victory. Pagenaud won the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis on Saturday, the first IndyCar Series race on IMS road course, by stretching his fuel the final 29 laps. The Frenchman was one of several drivers to gamble on gas, and he took the lead when Oriol Servia had to stop with four laps remaining. Pagenaud managed to make it to the finish for his third series victory despite having to keep an eye on his mirrors. Ryan Hunter-Reay was second and Helio Castroneves third on his 39th birthday. "Man I didnt know what we were asking for, but we made fuel," Pagenaud said in Victory Lane. "The fuel saving was amazing. It was nerve-wracking. I was worried about RHR coming back, and I didnt know what Helio was doing here. I dont like racing off throttle." Sebastien Bourdais and Charlie Kimball rounded out the top five. Hinchcliffe, of Oakville, Ont., was taken from the track on a stretcher and transported to a hospital, where he was diagnosed with a concussion after he was hit in the head with debris. A replay appeared to show debris from a car in front of him flew into his cockpit following a restart. IndyCar said hell have to be re-evaluated before hes cleared again to drive. Preparations begin Sunday for the Indianapolis 500, with qualifying scheduled to begin next Saturday for the May 25 race. IndyCar policy in the past has been to hold a driver with a concussion out of the car a minimum of seven days. Andretti Autosport said EJ Viso will be the standby driver for Hinchcliffe. "Im a little stiff and sore and Id love to be back in the car tomorrow, but I suppose I should probably let the doctors make that decision," Hinchcliffe said in a statement. Hunter-Reay said he drove by Hinchcliffes car and couldnt figure out what happened. "I was actually next to him on track and all of a sudden debris went everywhere and he slowed up," Hunter-Reay said about his teammate. "It was something that happened in front of him and he was hit." The race began with a violent wreck when pole-sitter Sebastian Saavedra stalled on the standing start. He was hit by multiple cars, and debris struck Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard as he waved the green flag. Saavedras car siimply didnt go when the lights went out and, after Hunter-Reay frantically darted around him, Saavedra was clipped by Carlos Munoz and then hit hard from behind by Mikhail Aleshin. Cedric Paquette Jersey. "We just followed protocol at the start," Saavedra said. "As soon as I released the clutch, it went from 11,000 rpm to zero. This should not have happened, unfortunately." The initial hit from Munoz didnt seem too bad, but Aleshins direct hit sprayed debris all over the track, sending spectators and track workers standing along the wall scrambling for cover. Saavedra was seen in his cockpit with his arms in the air anticipating a potential collision as cars tried to weave their way around his stalled KV Racing car. He was visibly upset after the accident as he talked to his team on his pit stand. He had won the first pole of his career -- in part because Hunter-Reay had his two fastest laps disallowed for causing a caution in Fridays qualifying -- and was looking for a strong finish at the famed race track. "Man, we had an opportunity to be at the front of the pack in this amazing place. We wanted to bring it home in the same place," he said. "To not even get a chance because of a freaking electrical thing ..." It had many drivers complaining about the standing starts, which have been problematic since IndyCar began using them at some tracks last season. The incident damaged several cars one day before teams begin practice for the May 25 Indianapolis 500. "I think IndyCar has had like two good standing starts since we started them last year," said driver/owner Ed Carpenter, who saw Mike Conway have to take his car to the garage for repairs after the accident. "Havent been a fan, still not a fan." Drivers also grumbled about the way race control was restarting the races, with the leader having to use a late restart zone. Graham Rahal said he was victimized when he was run into from behind by Juan Pablo Montoya. "These restarts are pretty stupid. You cant see back there because the rear wings are so big, and the officials, we need to work with them to try to change this because theres going to be a lot of accidents," Rahal said. "I said the restart before, I said to my dad, Somebodys going to get hurt out here because you cant see. "They need to let the leader go earlier. Right now, the way it is, theyre trying to be like NASACAR and this isnt NASCAR. We cant just bump-draft each other." 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