Alpine Skiing – FIS Alpine World Ski Championships – Men’s Downhill – Are, Sweden – February 9, 2019 – Norway’s Kjetil Jansrud in action. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann
Are, Sweden (Reuters) – Kjetil Jansrud led a Norwegian one-two to win gold in a weather-hit men’s downhill at the Alpine skiing world championships on Saturday, edging out team mate Aksel Lund Svindal by the narrowest of margins.
Jansrud, 33, made light of the falling snow and poor visibility to win by 0.02 seconds and claim a first world title, having won the Olympic Super-G gold at Sochi in 2014.
Olympic downhill champion Svindal, who will end his glittering career after the championships, came agonizingly close to becoming the first man to win three downhill world titles — a small mistake in the closing stages of his run probably costing the 36-year-old a fairytale gold.
Svindal becomes only the third man to win medals at six different world championships.
Austria’s Vincent Kriechmayr was third, 0.33 seconds back, to earn his second medal of the week after sharing silver with Johan Clarey in the Super-G.
Jansrud had an anxious wait in the finish because Austrian Hannes Reichelt, one of the favorites, was the 45th starter.
However, despite a strong start a big error wiped out his chances and the Norwegian’s celebrations could start.
The race had been delayed for an hour with low cloud at the top of the course but organizers decided to run it despite heavy snow falling throughout.
Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Toby Davis