Swiss skier Odermatt beats Kilde for downhill gold at worlds; Canada’s Cameron Alexander wins bronze

COURCHEVEL, France (AP) — Swiss skier Marco Odermatt ended his four-year wait for a world championship medal in impressive style Sunday, dominating the men’s downhill with a gutsy run on the demanding L’Eclipse course to win gold.

Odermatt let out a few screams after posting the fastest time, which even pre-race favorite Aleksander Aamodt Kilde could not beat. The Norwegian trailed by 0.48 seconds to add to his silver from Thursday’s super-G.

“It was definitely something I’d never felt before, this scream at the finish,” said Odermatt. “Also, those two minutes during Aleks’ run, I was shaking all over my body like never before.”

Cameron Alexander finished 0.89 behind to take the bronze for Canada’s second medal of the worlds after teammate James Crawford had won the super-G.

Odermatt had not won a medal in eight previous starts at senior world championships, after winning five golds at the 2018 junior worlds.

Even more so, he had never won a top-level downhill before, though he finished runner-up in seven World Cup races.

“I knew something was possible but that it works like this is unbelievable,“ said Odermatt, who won Olympic gold in giant slalom a year ago.

Odermatt is the defending overall World Cup champion and is dominating the circuit again this season. His gold medal came three days after he finished fourth in the super-G, an event in which he was heavily favored after winning four of this season’s six World Cup races.

“The fourth place from three days ago makes this gold even nicer,” Odermatt said. “It’s a crazy day, a crazy week. It wasn’t easy the last days after the disappointing super-G but I knew, the skiing is here, the chances are here.“

Odermatt hurt his left knee in the last downhill he competed in, at Kitzbuehel in January, and sat out a few races.

On Sunday, he “went all-in” on what was a risky but smooth and fluent run from top to bottom.

“I really had a good feeling after the first little flat, before the second big jump,” he said. “Then it was a big fight in the middle and lower part. As soon as I crossed the finish line I had a good feeling and when I saw the time, it was perfect.”

Kilde, who is leading the World Cup downhill standings after winning five races this season, led Odermatt by 0.20 seconds at the first split but lost time on his Swiss rival once he entered the shady part of the course.

“I did my best. A couple of turns I messed up a bit, on the top and in the middle,“ Kilde said. “I tried to charge, nearly nailed it. I gave it a battle and I’m happy with that.”

Like Odermatt, Kilde had not won a medal at a worlds before these championships in France.

“Coming in as a favorite in both disciplines, it would be amazing to have a gold,” Kilde said. “But these two silver medals in the world champs is amazing. I’ve got to just enjoy the moment.“

The start of the L’Eclipse course is bathed in bright sunshine, but racers soon enter a lengthy shaded middle part through a forest before coming out into the sun again for the finish.

On another bright day in the French Alps, the sunshine didn’t affect the race like it had done in the women’s downhill Saturday, when the sun started beaming down on the Roc de Fer course in Meribel and seemed to break down the course and slow the later starters. Odermatt’s victory made it a Swiss downhill double after Jasmine Flury won the women’s race.

Super-G winner Crawford stood third for a while in Sunday’s race before his time was beaten by his teammate Alexander and by Austria’s Marco Schwarz, who finished four-hundredths of a second off the podium in fourth.

Alexander was competing in his first race at a major championship.

“Just pushing and feeling like I was hanging on a bit,” he said. “When you’re fighting and hanging on in downhill, usually it means you’re going fast. I had a couple of mistakes but they weren’t too costly. All in all, it was solid.”

Teammate Crawford said he was “not surprised at all” with Alexander’s performance.

“Cam, he’s always had the speed, he has battled through some unfortunate injuries that have kind of sidelined him for a little while,” Crawford said. “His speed and ability is right up there with me and the other guys on our team.”

It’s the first time since 2015 that the Austrian men’s team failed to medal in the marquee event of the world championships.

Defending champion Vincent Kriechmayr lost his chance of a medal as he struggled in the Trou Noir (Black Hole), where racers land a jump in the shade and cannot see the tracks and bumps of the course.

“It was a good run but you have to race error-free here, and I didn’t manage to do that. All in all, just not good enough,” Kriechmayr said. “Odermatt had the perfect run, for sure.”

The race was interrupted for 20 minutes after Brodie Seger awkwardly landed a jump and apparently hurt his right knee. The Canadian had to be taken off the hill on a stretcher and was flown to hospital by helicopter.

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