Alpine Ski World Championships 2023: Alexis Pinturault holds off Marco Schwarz to take home gold in combined
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Updated 07/02/2023 at 15:32 GMT
Tuesday February 7 is a day that Alexis Pinturault will never forget as he won a Alpine World Ski Championships gold medal in his home town of Courchevel. Pinturault was brilliant in the super-G and did just enough in the slalom to seal victory in the men’s combined, the first event of the 2023 Alpine World Ski Championships for the men, to kick off his championships in style.
'They're holding their breath!' - Pinturault survives nervy slalom run to lead the pack
Local star Alexis Pinturault held off Austria’s Marco Schwarz to win gold in the men’s combined at the 2023 Alpine World Ski Championships in Courchevel.
Pinturault put down a blistering run in the super-G but had a few issues with the tricky slalom course, which appeared to have opened the door for his rivals.
However, Schwarz, who at one stage looked on course to overtake the Frenchman, also had issues of his own and ended 0.10s behind Pinturault's combined time of 1:53.31.
“It feels great,” said Pinturault after the race. “It is a really special moment. I am really happy.
“What was difficult today was normally in combined the slalom can be somehow easier. But today that was really not the case.
"The course-setters struggled a little bit to find the right distances, so we got a pretty regular slalom at the top but then it was really tricky in the bottom.
“I made not an amazing slalom but a good and strong slalom, especially with the No. 1 because it is really difficult to know when it is tricky to know exactly where you can push and where you have to show a bit more control.”
Raphael Haaser rounded off the podium to complete a brilliant couple of days for the Haaser family as sister Ricarda also won bronze on Monday in the women’s combined.
Throughout the slalom run of Tuesday’s event there were many skiers who were having issues coming to grips with the piste. A number of skiers were not able to finish the race.
And that meant that no one was able to stop Pinturault from taking gold in his home town.
Earlier in the day it was Pinturault who put down the quickest time in the super-G run, with the aptly nicknamed 'Courchevel Kid' thrilling the home crowd with a time of 1:08.25.
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'Just perfection!' - Local star Pinturault puts down blistering super-G run in combined
He was nearly matched by Austria’s Marco Schwarz, who finished just 0.06s behind.
Schwarz's compatriot Haaser and America’s River Radamus were two of the more surprising names in the top five.
Aleksander Aamodt Kilde competed in the super-G but confirmed afterwards that - like Sofia Goggia - he wouldn’t do the slalom as his hand injury was still bothering him. He did say he didn’t expect it to impact him when the speed events start later in the championships.
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COURCHEVEL, FRANCE - FEBRUARY 07: Alexis Pinturault of France celebrates victory after his run in Slalom as part of Men's Alpine Combined at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships on February 07, 2023 in Courchevel, France.
Image credit: Getty Images
Speaking to Eurosport after his first run Pinturault said “It was pretty okay I would say. I really tried to attack and I really tried to give my best.
“I was always on the limit but I was always on the good side of the limit. So I could handle it the whole way down without big mistakes and that was the main goal.”
And so it proved to be the case, in the second run Pinturault found one incredible recovery, and avoided making a massive mistake to seal his victory.
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