Grange ends French drought

The 22-year-old held his nerve and made it down both runs on a tough slope which 49 racers failed to complete.

"To finish with a medal is extraordinary," said Grange, who finished 2.21 seconds behind Austrian winner Mario Matt.

"It's true that a lot people have told me that I had the capacity to go much faster than I've done in the past and to do better. I have proved that in combined events where there has been maybe a little less pressure," said Grange, who has never won a World Cup race.

"So it was important for me to prove to people and myself that even on a day when there is more pressure I can still do my skiing to one hundred percent."

The last Frenchman to win a world championship medal was Frederic Covili, who took the giant slalom bronze in St Anton, Austria, in 2001.

"It certainly is nice to succeed Fred. It's been two world championships with no medals, even though there was one at the Olympics," said Grange, referring to Antoine Deneriaz's triumph in the downhill at the 2006 Winter Games in Turin.

The next world championships, in 2009, will be held in Val d'Isere in Grange's native France.

Grange said he had not yet given that much thought.

"Maybe I'll have to aim higher now. I am 22 years old and we host the next championships but with this medal in my pocket it's looking promising.

"It's true that in the past I've been struggling to ski well in two legs. Slowly, I put one step forward after the next by finishing in the top 15, then the top 10. So I came here knowing now that I have the skiing to be successful but that a few things were missing. But it worked out in the end and that's awesome."