Alpine skiing-Odermatt beats Kilde to men's downhill gold

COURCHEVEL, France :Switzerland's Marco Odermatt beat Norwegian favourite Aleksander Aamodt Kilde to win the flagship men's downhill and take a first world championships gold medal of his Alpine skiing career on Sunday.

The overall World Cup leader, racing with bib number 10, laid down the challenge with a blistering run in one minute 47.05 seconds down Courchevel's daunting L'Eclipse piste and Kilde, starting 15th, could not match it.

The Norwegian, who also had to settle for silver in Thursday's Super-G while Odermatt agonisingly missed out in fourth place, crossed the line with a time 0.48 slower.

Canada's Cameron Alexander took a surprise bronze medal after starting 20th.

"It's a crazy day, a crazy week," said Odermatt, who has been duelling Kilde all season in the World Cup and had a knee scare last month.

"It wasn't easy the last days after the disappointing super-G but I knew the skiing is here, the chances are here and I definitely went all in today because I knew I have to... it was a perfect run.

"It's just unbelievable that it worked today."

The gold was also a first senior world championships medal for 2022 Olympic giant slalom champion Odermatt, who has finished second seven times in World Cup downhills without winning one.

He was the first Swiss to win men's downhill gold since now-retired Beat Feuz in St Moritz in 2017 and the victory completed a downhill double for the country, with Jasmine Flury winning Saturday's women's race.

The Swiss knew he had done something special when he looked up at the timing screen at the finish, throwing his head back and roaring in delight with his arms pumping and ski poles thrust aloft.

Kilde had won five World Cup downhills before the championships but his hopes of becoming the