Canadian skier James Crawford raised both hands in celebration as he came through the finish at the world championships on Thursday.
Two seconds later, he turned again to check the results on the big screen: had he really edged leader Alexander Amodt Kilde by one-hundredth of a second in the men’s super-G?
“When I crossed the finish line, I was a little surprised,” Crawford said after winning Canada’s 11th medal and fourth gold at the World Championships. It’s been six years since Eric Guay was the last Canadian winner in super-G.
“It feels very surreal to be etched a little bit in the history books as another Canadian world champion. I certainly wasn’t expecting anything today.
Crawford sat in the leader’s chair for an hour, shaking his head in apparent disbelief and biting his nails as all subsequent starters failed to beat his time.
“It’s easy to put a lot of pressure on yourself after becoming world champion because you have one chance,” he said. “Where my skiing was and how I was feeling wasn’t the pressure. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe I could win, but it wasn’t on my mind.”
Alexis Pinturault finished 0.26 seconds behind to take bronze two days after winning the combined race at worlds in his hometown.
Marco Odermatt, who dominates the World Cup circuit and is the defending overall champion, has won four of six Super-GSs this season but finished 0.37 seconds behind in fourth. The Swiss skier is still waiting for his first medal at worlds, five years after winning five gold medals at the 2018 Junior Championships.
Crawford was the next starter after Kilday, one of the pre-race favorites after winning two World Cup Super-GSs this season, leading the race. Crawford overtook the Norwegian halfway through his run but mastered the final stretch.
“It was continuity from top to bottom. “I pushed out of the gate with a very clear mindset on where I wanted to be, what I wanted to ski,” Crawford said.
Their second medal in the major events followed a bronze medal in the combined at the previous year’s Beijing Olympics.
He took the joint lead at the 2021 Worlds with the fastest time in the super-G but dropped to fourth in the slalom. He was also fourth in the Olympic downhill the year before.
“I’ve been looking for a winning run for the last two years. I just haven’t been able to do it and today I managed to do it at the World Championships, which makes it a little sweeter. It’s unbelievable.”
Crawford has yet to win a World Cup race, but he has three podium results, most recently on a downhill in Italy in December.
The course set was technically demanding with several difficult turns in the steep middle section, where racers reached speeds of up to 115 kilometers per hour (71.5 mph), but with a run time of only 1 minute, 7 seconds. .
The silver was Kilday’s first medal at the all worlds. The Norwegian had won super-G bronze and combined silver at the Olympics the year before.
Kilde said, “There was a turning point where I could have done better, and that is where Crawford has taken me today.” “He’s a guy who can be fast everywhere because he charges and has the guts to take risks. And the snow here is like that dry North American snow. He’s a good skier and that’s why he was able to win today.” able.”
Kilde matched his girlfriend Mikaela Shiffrin’s feat on Wednesday, a day after the American standout won silver in the women’s super-G.
“The way she competes really inspires me and we support each other,” Kilde said. “Considering we are both silver medallists, it is a good story. Let’s make it gold next time.
Kilde will compete in the men’s downhill on Sunday, while Shiffrin is expected to return to worlds next Thursday for the women’s giant slalom.
Mathias Mayer won the Olympic title last year but the Austrian retired in December. American racer Ryan Cochrane-Siegel, the Olympic silver medalist, finished in 18th place with a lead of 1.52.
Italian skier Dominique Parisi crashed badly after skiing off a gate. Afterwards he was limping in the finish area but said he expected to start on Sunday’s downhill.
Italians wore black armbands after Elena Fanchini, the skier whose career was cut short by a tumour, died on Wednesday at the age of 37.