Wearing bib number two, Jasmine Flury set an early marker down in the Women’s Downhill World Championships and held on to win the biggest race of her life despite never having won on the World Cup tour.
The dream became real when favourite, Sofia Goggia, did not finish due to a straddle.
Nina Ortlieb of Austria was the closest to the Swiss, just 0.04 seconds off the pace.
Olympic champion Corinne Suter, made up the podium places, making it a double for the Switzerland team.
Flury took her first win of the season with a run that was representative of her great strength and precision. The last time Flury won on the World Cup was a Super G in St Moritz in 2017.
From the moment she got out of the gate she was powerful, carrying the momentum through the whole way.
The Swiss put her Fischer skis to the test, but they held on like glue, in a race where many skiers suffered with break-aways, which scrubbed off time.
An error free run, that was untouchable for both Lara Gut-Behrami and Ilka Stuhec, who wore bibs 14 and 15 respectively.
The pair were only good enough for the top ten, despite great recent form.
There were tears of joy at the bottom of the Roc de Fer piste, as Flury realised she was running away with her first victory in over five years.
“I really don’t know what to say, I still can’t believe it. It’s just amazing,” a tearful Flury said.
“Unbelievable, I still don’t get it. It feels unreal, crazy,” she later added. “I don’t know, it still feels like a dream. I don’t know what is happening and with Corinne (Suter) on the podium, I don’t know, more than a dream has come true.”
Ortlieb has only just made it back on to the World Cup tour after suffering injury, she spent 680 days recovering but knows that she may have a few more World Championships in her to match the Gold that her father won in 1996 in Sierra Nevada, Spain.
Ortlieb explained “I have more world championships to come, maybe one day I can also bring home a gold,”
Like Ortlieb, Suter's bronze nearly did not happen after an injury in the races at Cortina d'Ampezzo leading up to the World Championships.
“It was anything else but easy for me. The last weeks I started thinking and thinking. Also today I wasn’t sure if I could do it but my coach said to me today, ‘Corinne you are the only one who knows how to ski’. I just tried to do my best,” Suter said.
With pre race favourite Sofia Goggia straddling a gate and Mikaela Shiffrin not racing as she prepares for the technical races, this was an open race and one that Flury took her chances with.
The Downhill run in Courchevel is definitely one that is a platform for great racing, so the men’s downhill event tomorrow is one that is much anticipated.
Full results
Words - Jack Feneley
Pictures - Zoom Agence