This is called “establishing a reference time”. First skier to set off this Saturday during the descent to Courchevel-Méribel, Jasmine Flury logically took her place in the leader’s jump seat. But none of the following succeeded in dislodging it. To everyone’s surprise, the Swiss, a single victory in the World Cup at the age of 29, thus became world champion of the queen event. She preceded the Austrian Nina Ortlieb, the daughter of the 1992 Olympic champion in Val-d’Isère who failed at only four hundredths, and her compatriot Corinne Sutter, outgoing champion.
In tears in the finish area, the new world champion saw one by one all the skiers in the world’s top 10 break their teeth on her time. Big favorite of the event, after having won four of the six downhills contested this winter, the Italian Sofia Goggia straddled, when she did not seem able to go for gold anyway. The Italian team is inevitably a little disturbed by the death, a few days ago, of the former skier Nadia Fanchini, at 37 years of age from cancer.
Did Flury benefit from favorable conditions or take the race out of her life? Probably a clever mix of the two, which is enough to make him happy. If there was surely something to do to get the podium, the French finished far from the mark, already late in the first part of the course, where the medalists built their lead. Best ranked of the lot, Laura Gauché took 12th place, 1′’03 from the lead. She was slightly ahead of Romane Miradoli (15th, + 1′’07), and Anouck Errard (21st, at + 2′’11).
