COURCHEVEL, France — Swiss skier Marco Odermatt won gold in the men’s downhill Sunday for his first career world championships medal.

As predicted, the weather was perfect for the men’s downhill in Courchevel, France. With a week of blue skies, the L’Eclipse race slope was ideal. The course was fast, the jumps big and required the execution of all types of downhill turns. The course went in and out of direct sunlight. It was hard to see the racing surface and all the small variabilities when it was in the shade.

The World Cup’s overall leader Odermatt met the challenge and earned his first World Championship podium and the gold medal in the men’s downhill. Odermatt has earned eight World Cup downhill podiums but has never won.

Odermatt let out a few screams after posting the fastest time. He had not won a medal in eight previous starts at elite world championships, after winning five golds at the 2018 junior worlds.

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

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.

Bib one was Italian Florian Schieder. He delivered a run that proved hard to beat. However, when bib ten, Odermatt crossed (-1.09) faster, it became apparent it was possible to ski the course much faster than Schieder. After 14 skiers, Odermatt’s advantage remained more than a second. However, bib 15 was the World Cup downhill leader, Norwegian Aleksander Aamodt Kilde. While Kilde skied to a (-0.20) advantage in the first sector, he lost time in the following four sectors and crossed the finish line in second place (+0.48).

The Canadians experienced another spectacular day. Although their world champion super-G skier, James Crawford, ended the race a solid fifth place today, the best Canadian was Cameron Alexander. He earned his first World Championship podium finishing third. Alexander won a downhill in Norway last season, but this was his first appearance at World Championships. With the speed events ending, the Canadian house will undoubtedly celebrate their two podiums tonight.

“This means everything,” said a beaming Alexander. “I’m very, very happy, it’s the greatest feeling in the world. The guys here are so fast, I knew that I had to bring my best skiing and to push all the way down. I was talking to myself towards the end, making sure that I kept pushing.”

“Jack’s gold in the super-G gave us all confidence,” added Alexander. “Our group really pushes each other in training and his win showed us that our best skiing has a shot at the podium. We’ve all been working so hard for so long; I know that it’s just a matter of time for the rest of the guys. Going to celebrate this and looking forward to building on it.”

While the winners coming from the prerace favorites is unusual in these championships; the big surprise of the day is certainly the podium of Alexander.

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 dark 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 L’Eclipse slope continues to challenge the Stiflel US Alpine Team. Today the fastest US racer was bib 31 Erik Arvidsson, who finished in 17th. Arvidsson was only (+0.08) outside the top 15. While no World Cup points are awarded in a World Championships, the top 15 do earn full World Cup Start List points.

“I definitely left it all out there. I had one pretty costly mistake on the top, but then everything else was good. That’s what happens when you’re going for it and pushing it and risking it. That’s what you gotta do at World Champs,” said Arvidsson. “This is my first experience of it [World Championships] and people step up for the big events. Just seeing the focus and the intensity compared to a normal World Cup is impressive.”

Unfortunately, Canadian Brodie Seger was injured during an awkward landing and had to be taken down in a rescue toboggan and airlifted by helicopter to the medical facility. Seger never fell but pulled out of the course holding his injured leg in the air.

Top 30 men’s downhill results, and analysis of the fastest four and North Americans

Analysis of the top four and North Americans

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This is a developing story, stay tuned for updates.