French skier Sarrazin crowns breakthrough downhill season with Kitzbuehel win. Odermatt 3rd

KITZBUEHEL, Austria (AP) — Cyprien Sarrazin has fallen in love with downhill skiing this season.

The Frenchman, a former giant slalom specialist, bent both arms above his head to form the shape of a heart after crowning his breakthrough season in speed races by winning the first of this weekend’s two World Cup downhills on the storied Streif on Friday.

Racing in cloudy conditions and struggling through technical turns on the icy and bumpy part of the 3.3-kilometer course, Sarrazin trailed then-leader Florian Schieder by up to 0.27 seconds before posting the fastest time in the last section to beat the Italian by 0.05.

World downhill champion Marco Odermatt was 0.34 behind in third.

“It was not the perfect run, not an amazing run, but I finished with my heart,” Sarrazin said. “I knew that I did some mistakes, I had to finish really fast. That’s what I did.”

It was the Frenchman’s fourth career win and second in downhill, after triumphing on the iconic Stelvio course in Bormio last month.

Sarrazin made his World Cup debut in 2016 but did not compete in downhill until December 2022. He had two career podiums in technical races coming into the season, but racked up five top-three results in speed events over the last three weeks, including a super-G victory seven days ago.

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Sarrazin became the first French winner of the downhill in Kitzbuehel since a 1997 victory by Luc Alphand, who attended Friday’s race and hugged Sarrazin several times to congratulate him.

“He is bringing joy and happiness, we love him,” said Alphand, adding he was “very happy” to make way for Sarrazin as the last French downhill winner in Kitzbuehel.

Alphand’s son, Nils, also took part in Friday’s race but finished outside the top 30.

The Streif downhill is widely regarded as the most demanding and frightening race on the World Cup. The annual three-race weekend in the Austrian Alps usually attracts up to 85,000 spectators, including a range of representatives of politics and entertainment.

On Friday, John Kerry was among the prominent visitors. U.S. President Joe Biden’s envoy for climate was seen watching the race alongside Johan Eliasch, the head of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation.

Schieder was in the leader’s box for only a few minutes, hoping for what would have been his first World Cup win.

“Sarrazin was a little bit faster, we will see tomorrow for another fight down there. In the lower part I was a little bit slow,” said the Italian, who also finished second in this race a year ago for his only previous World Cup podium. He placed fourth in Wengen eight days ago.

Odermatt, who briefly led the race until his time was beaten by Schieder, denied fourth-placed American Ryan Cochran-Stiegle a podium result by 0.01.

“It wasn’t my best run of the season. And if you don’t show your best skiing in Kitz, you can’t win. It’s all right as it is,” said Odermatt, the two-time overall World Cup champion.

“(Sarrazin) skied smart. He has a super fast speed right now and is able to win, even without a 100% run.”

Odermatt won two downhills with Sarrazin as the runner-up both times, at Wengen in his native Switzerland. Those were Odermatt’s first World Cup wins in the sport’s fastest discipline, nearly a year after winning the world downhill title.

The World Cup downhill champion from the past two seasons, Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, is out for the season after his horrifying crash in the second Wengen downhill last Saturday.

Kilde had a second operation Thursday to repair two torn ligaments in his right shoulder. The Norwegian, the long-term partner of American ski star Mikaela Shiffrin, also suffered a severe cut and nerve damage in his right calf.

Former world champion and home crowd favorite Vincent Kriechmayr, who won the first of two downhills on the Streif last year, was the best Austrian finisher in seventh.

Swiss skier Arnaud Boisset, a late starter with bib 53, placed ninth on his second run down the course, after he had to interrupt his first when a course worker slipped into the safety fencing.

Organizers postponed the start due to fog in the upper part of the course, but visibility was no issue anymore when the race started an hour later.

Another downhill on the Streif is scheduled for Saturday.

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AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/skiing