Henrik Kristoffersen took gold in the World Championship Slalom, after making a whopping 15 places on the second run.
AJ Ginnis, from Greece, pulled off a shock performance to finish second place with two consistent, yet charging runs, the Athens-born star started with bib 24, after his first podium position coming just 15 days ago in Chamonix.
He was originally tied with Lucas Braaten for the runners up position, who had returned from an appendix surgery early to compete – the Norwegian was 0.93 seconds up on Kristofferson as the green light sprung up at the second sector, in the final run.
But the young Norwegian struggled on the bottom section of the course, getting forced inside, scrubbing off a lot of speed, and as a result dropped to a disappointing seventh.
The course on the second leg was tight, full of turns and technical, set by German coach Bernd Brunner that had Linus Strasser in mind, trying to benefit his skier, but the 30-year-old dropped from fourth to ninth.
It didn’t quite work out for the Germans, but it was an opportunity that Kristoffersen capitalised on having a wonderful ski down the Roc de Fer piste in Courchevel.
First run leader Manuel Feller couldn’t save Austria from facing the disappointment of not winning a single gold medal throughout this tournament, his mistake ridden second run meant he finished sixth.
It's the first time since 1987 that Austria haven’t took a gold medal in the World Championships.
Dave Ryding showed a great response to his disappointing first run, the star from Chorley in Lancashire set the 5th quickest time down the tricky set, to recover from 21st to 13th.
This will be a confidence boost for the upcoming final World Cup slalom races of the season approaching.
Fellow Briton Billy Major made the second run, finishing 28th, showing some glimpses of great skiing through a tough test of a course.
Laurie Taylor unfortunately finished outside the top 30 on the first run but still got to race in run two with the World Championship format allowing the remaining skiers to go after the elite group of skiers have competed, he finished 33rd.
Ed Guigonnet made his slalom debut, joining the established British trio after qualifying in 8th place yesterday.
Guigonnet finished 48th on the opening leg, but didn’t finish his second run, still a great experience that the 21-year-old will take under his wing with a bright future ahead of him.
Words Jack Feneley
Pictures Zoom Agence