Matthias Mayer wins Alpine Skiing Men's Super-G gold at Beijing Winter Olympics

YANQING, Beijing - Matthias Mayer of Austria made history on Tuesday as he defended his Olympic Super-G title to become the first male alpine skier to win gold in three consecutive Games.

The 31-year-old Austrian, who also won downhill gold in Sochi 2014, followed up his PyeongChang 2018 Super-G win by clocking a winning time of 1 minute 19.94 seconds at the Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Center.

American Ryan Cochran-Siegle took a surprise silver, finishing 0.04 seconds behind Mayer to win his first Olympic medal in his second Games. Norway's Aleksander Aamodt Kilde claimed bronze in 1:20.36.

Mayer did not start well as his skis slipped, but his aggressive skiing paid off in the final stretch.

"I had a problem with my stick. It was stuck in such an aluminum thing and I had to push it out, back, and do it again," Mayer said about his rocky start.

"It was a bit of a nervous start but after the first gate I didn't remember that," he said.

Mayer said the bronze he won in Monday's downhill motivated him to perform well in Super-G.

"Yesterday the bronze medal gave me a real push for today. I was very focused today and very free of my mind. I had to push hard," he said.

For Kilde, his fifth finish in Monday's downhill was not motivation but something he had to put behind him.

"Yesterday was a tough day. Mostly because I came in as a favorite and had a lot of pressure on my shoulders, and also pressure to myself to deliver," he said.

"I felt like I didn't ski well enough yesterday, so that was what made it the most disappointing part of it," said the Norwegian racer.

"Today when I can come back and just reset and deliver a solid run, and take my first championship medal, it's incredible. It's really a good feeling," he said.

Beat Feuz, who won the downhill title on Monday, crashed out with four turns into the challenge.