Cyrille de la Morinerie, edited by Loane Nader
modified to
7:56 p.m., February 09, 2023
Canadian James Crawford was crowned super-G world champion to everyone’s surprise Thursday in Courchevel, ahead of Norwegian Aleksander Aamodt Kilde and Frenchman Alexis Pinturault, who won his second medal in as many races. James, aka “Jack”, Crawford picked the right day to shine.
Bronze medalist in the combined at the Beijing Olympics last year, the Canadian gleaned for a hundredth of a second a first international title without having ever won a World Cup event before, while the favorite Marco Odermatt finished fourth.
First world title for James Crawford
Crawford, a 25-year-old skier, had not done better than a sixth place this season in super-G, after a second place last year in Kvitfjell (Norway). “I dreamed for a long time of being at the top of the world,” he smiled at a press conference. “Being able to win was an incredible experience and I will cherish this day for a long time.” A talented young skier, Crawford comes from a family of champions, with his aunt Judy and older sister Candace, both Olympians.
“I learned a lot from my family and my aunt,” he said. “She’s finished fourth a couple of times at Worlds and the Olympics, and she was like, ‘Nobody remembers fourth place,’ so if you think you can save a little more time, do it.” In addition to his family heritage, he is in line with his trainer John Kucera, also world champion in France, during the descent to Val d’Isère in 2009.
Seventh world medal for Pinturault
With the bronze at 26/100, Pinturault continues his superb fortnight, which he started with the combined title on Tuesday, in the village where he partly grew up. This is his seventh individual world medal, the second in this discipline after bronze in Cortina d’Ampezzo (Italy) two years ago. With this total, “Pintu” exceeds Jean-Claude Killy (six) and is placed just behind Émile Allais (eight), legend of the 1930s, and the most medal-winning Frenchman in the men’s World Championships.
The winner of the big crystal globe 2021 even led the dance for a time, before being dislodged from first place by Kilde and then demoted by Crawford. “When I cross the line, I see that Marco (Odermatt) is behind me, I tell myself that the medal is possible (…) that we have to wait for Kilde, but (…) the probabilities are good to stay at least on the box,” explained Pinturault. “Then Kilde and Crawford passed me, it was a bit tense behind. Fourth would have been the worst place”.