Frenchman Alexis Pinturault skis to world gold in combined event before home crowd | CBC Sports

Racing in his hometown, Alexis Pinturault ended a drought of nearly two years by winning the gold medal in the men’s combined at the world skiing championships on Tuesday.

In a tricky slalom run on a steep pitch, the Frenchman retained his lead from the super-G portion to edge defending champion Marco Schwarz by 0.10 seconds, stopping the clock in a combined one minute 53.31 seconds.

The Austrian, second after the first leg, seemed headed for the victory when leading Pinturault by 0.30 seconds at the final split but had a costly mistake at the fourth-to-last gate.

Pinturault is a Courchevel native and his family runs a hotel close to the L’Eclipse course.

“In my village, where I live, to win a gold medal here, that will be a super memory,” Pinturault said after earning his 10th career medal, and third gold, from major championships.

“A perfect day, a super performance in the super-G and also a good performance in the slalom. For me, this is a sensational day.”

WATCH | Pinturault regains world combined title from Schwarz:

Courchevel native Alexis Pinturault wins men’s combined world championship on home mountain

Alexis Pinturault held on to win the gold medal in the men’s combined Tuesday at his home world championships in Courchevel, France.

Pinturault had not won a race since March 2021 in a World Cup giant slalom in Switzerland to wrap up the overall title on his 30th birthday. He previously won the world title in 2019 but was beaten to gold by Schwarz two years later. Pinturault also took Olympic silver in 2018.

Schwarz’s teammate, Raphael Haaser, finished 0.44 behind to win bronze in 1:53.75, a day after his sister, Ricarda Haaser, also took bronze in the women’s combined.

The combined event adds the times from one super-G run and one slalom run.

Ruled combined event on World Cup circuit

All four Canadians in the competition didn’t finish the slalom run after placing inside the top 20 in super-G — Jeff Read of Canmore, Alta. (11th), Toronto’s Jack Crawford (14th), Brodie Seger of North Vancouver, B.C., (17th) and Broderick Thompson of Whistler, B.C. (19th).

WATCH | Read finishes career-best 7th ahead of alpine worlds:

Canada’s Jeffrey Read cracks top 10 in World Cup super-G race

The Canmore, Alta native finished seventh in the men’s World Cup event in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.

Pinturault dominated the discipline when it was still part of the World Cup circuit until 2020, winning six of the last eight season titles.

He has been struggling this season, with a third place from a super-G in Beaver Creek in early December his only podium result.

“It’s amazing what’s coming out today and I hope to enjoy it because it was pretty difficult some months ago,” Pinturault said.

Just like Pinturault, Schwarz also had only one top-three result on the circuit.

He trailed the Frenchman by just 0.06 after the super-G portion, but won time on every split in the slalom until near the end of his run.

“I had a little mistake before the finish line but all in all it was a good day,” Schwarz said. “I lost gold right before the finish. But I made it to the finish and am happy with my silver medal.”

WATCH | Slalom of men’s combined event in Courchevel:

FIS Alpine world ski championships: Men’s Alpine combined run 2

Watch the final run of the men’s Alpine combined event, at the FIS Alpine world ski championships in Courchevel, France.

Schwarz has a medal of every colour after bronze in 2019 and gold in 2021. “I’m pretty happy about that,” he said.

Johannes Strolz, the Olympic champion from Austria, had a disappointing showing as he trailed Pinturault by 2.48 seconds after the super-G and was among 13 skiers to not finish the slalom, his strongest event.

Marco Odermatt, who is dominating the World Cup circuit, was disqualified for missing a gate shortly before the finish of his super-G run.

Several skiers, including Olympic silver medallist Aleksander Aamodt Kilde and two-time world champion Vincent Kriechmayr, used the super-G run only as training for Thursday’s race and did not start in the slalom portion.