Alexis Pinturault clinches popular home World Championships combined gold – results
The Frenchman, who lives and trains in Courchevel, holds off defending champion Marco Schwarz to win by 0.10 seconds.
Alpine Skiing
Leave it to the local boy to deliver.
Alexis Pinturault did just that at the 2023 Alpine World Ski Championships on Tuesday (7 February) as the Frenchman regained the combined world title in Courchevel at his home resort.
The 2019 world champion in the discipline held off the defending champion Marco Schwarz to clinch gold on the L'Eclipse piste with a combined time of 1:53.31.
"It's amazing, especially after the beinning of the winter," Pinturault said to FIS TV after his win was confirmed in reference to his early World Cup form.
"It's great to be here, in Courchevel, my hometown. it's great to see all these people cheering for the French team and also for me. It feels great, I hope to enjoy because it was pretty difficult some months ago."
The Courchevel-based Pinturault, racing with the loud vocal support of the crowd, put together a strong morning Super-G run to take the lead into the slalom.
Many top skiers were caught out by a big jump in the Super-G, with Beijing 2022 Olympic champion Johannes Strolz and silver medallist Aleksander Aamodt Kilde among those who lost time after misjudging the jump. Kilde, a pre-race favourite, withdrew before the afternoon. Strolz would go on to ski out of the slalom run.
Instead, Schwarz and his teammate Raphael Haaser were the only ones to keep pace with Pinturault, both finishing the morning run within two-tenths of the home hero. Marco Odermatt, making his return from a knee injury, surprisingly missed a gate in the Super-G run.
The afternoon's slalom run with 57 gates proved even trickier, with the closing turns set in a difficult pattern with wide offset gates followed by a tight finish to the line including a pair of gates right before the end.
Pinturault, first down the piste, did well to hold his own despite a slip in the middle of the course.
Schwarz gained time on Pinturault early in his slalom run, and was as much as a quarter of a second ahead heading into the difficult finish. There, he suffered a big slide on the offset undergate, crossing the line a tenth behind Pinturault – a result that saw the Frenchman jump out of his seat in celebration.
Haaser, the younger brother of women's combined bronze medallist Ricarda, made it double bronze for the family as he successfully navigated the slalom course to cross the line in third for his maiden World medal, 0.44 seconds behind the winner.
Results - 2023 World Championships men's combined (top 8)
- Alexis Pinturault (FRA) 1:53.31
- Marco Schwarz (AUT) +0.10
- Raphael Haaser (AUT) +0.44
- River Radamus (USA) +0.69
- Atle Lie McGrath (NOR) +0.72
- Loïc Meillard (SUI) +1.20
- Tobias Kastlunger (ITA) +2.99
- Albert Ortega (ESP) +2.50