Vienna  - Austrian media were critical Sunday after its men's alpine ski team were left without a world championship medal in the downhill or super-g races for the first time in 20 years.

"What a slap in the face!" the daily Oesterreich wrote. The race, in which John Kucera of Canada won the first downhill gold for his country at world championships, was a "historical downhill flop," the tabloid wrote.

On sixth place, the fastest Austrian was two-time downhill world champion Hermann Maier, who was unable to match Switzerland's Didier Cuche and Carlo Janka on second and third place.

The Austrians also came up empty-handed in Wednesday's super-g race won by Cuche.

Media criticized Austrian team managers for not doing enough to foster downhill racers.

"Our downhill specialists are dying out and the young ones lack self-confidence," Austrian skiing legend Franz Klammer wrote in a column for Oesterreich.

For too long, former stars like triple world champion Stephan Eberharter had blocked tickets for younger skiers, the daily Kurier wrote.

"Skiing has once again become an international sport with Austrian participation - it's not the other way round anymore," the newspaper said.

With Klaus Kroell ranking ninth and Michael Walchhofer 12th, it was the first time since the 1989 world championships in Vail, Colorado that no Austrian stepped up to the podium after one of the two speed events. dpa