Jean-Luc CRETIER

Jean-Luc Crétier won the Olympic downhill gold medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics at Nagano, the first Frenchman to win that title since Jean-Claude Killy in 1968. It was considered somewhat of an upset as Crétier never won a World Cup race and never medalled at the World Championships. He had just missed a medal at the 1992 Winter Olympics when he placed fourth in the combined. His career ended somewhat prematurely in 1999 when he sustained a severe injury at Val Gardena during the World Championships. Crétier did have five podium appearances at the World Cup, all in downhill, with three silvers and two bronzes, and he placed fifth in the seasonal downhill World Cup in 1997-98. He was a five-time French champion, winning the super-G in 1989, and the downhill and combined in 1991 and 1993. He later became a businessman and a consultant to the French television station RMC.