2-time Olympic champion Mayer to open downhill training

BEIJING (AP) — Austrian skier Matthias Mayer will be the first athlete to test the downhill course at the Beijing Olympics after drawing the No. 1 bib for Thursday’s first official training session. Mayer is aiming for his third gold medal in as many Olympics. He won the downhill in 2014 and the super-G in 2018. His father was a silver medalist in the first Olympic super-G in 1988. No active racers have been on the course because test events were canceled over the last two years amid the pandemic. There are 56 skiers on the start list.