Marco Odermatt doesn’t give the competition a chance in the downhill and wins his first world championship gold. Thomas Dreßen is the best German despite knee problems.
The Italian Florian Schieder was the first to rush into the race on the spectacular “L’Éclipse” slope, which was specially created for the World Championships, and set a best time that was not beaten for a long time. The local hero Johan Clarey and the 2021 world champion Vincent Kriechmayr could not displace the South Tyrolean.
Marco Odermatt, currently the best skier in the entire World Cup, showed impressively how much time was still left on the slopes. After a flawless drive, he took the lead with a lead of more than a second. After the race he said himself: “It was the perfect ride from me. Unbelievable.” Who should beat that?
Top favorite Kilde does not make it
The top favorite for gold, Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, was still on top. The Norwegian had won five of eight downhill races this season. In the upper part he was able to keep up with Odermatt and was only slightly behind.
In the shady middle section, however, he was carried off in a traverse and lost a lot of time. The best time of the Swiss could no longer be reached, Kilde finished second – quite disappointing for the dominator in the downhill.
Next Canadian surprise
After James Crawford’s Super-G gold, the next Canadian can look forward to a medal at the World Championships. With a strong ride on the Éclipse, Cameron Alexander surprisingly landed on the podium in third place. The 25-year-old Alexander has only been able to win one downhill race so far, now the great success in the supreme discipline at his first participation in the World Championships.
German starters miss top positions
Best German in Courchevel was Thomas Dreßen in tenth. He was just under three tenths off the podium. In the interview after the race, he reported renewed pain in his knee, which had hindered him in the race. “I got everything out, more was just not possible,” he said on the ZDF microphone and continued: “Now it just hurts brutally.”
Romed Baumann was again the first German to start the race with an early start number. In the upper part of the course he had to contend with small uncertainties, but he stayed close to the Italian Florian Schieder, who was in the lead in the meantime. He finished the race in 19th place. Josef Ferstl did not have a good day, he clearly missed a place in the top twenty with a deficit of more than two seconds.
Andreas Sander had to wait a long time at the start because Canadian Brodie Seger, who had started in front of him, fell and had to be transported by helicopter. Sander started well in the upper part, but then fell back and, 2.4 seconds back, had no chance of a top finish. He ranked 29th.