Flury (29) was four hundredths of a second ahead of Austrian Nina Ortlieb and twelve hundredths of another Swiss, Olympic champion and world champion 2021 Corinne Suter.
This first international medal for Flury is a huge surprise: she had only been on two World Cup podiums (a super-G victory in 2017, a second place in downhill in 2022) in her nine-year career.
"I don't know what to say, I still don't believe it, it's incredible. It seems unreal to me", launched the champion, very moved, at the microphone of the stadium.
Nina Ortlieb (26), daughter of the 1992 Olympic downhill champion in Val d'Isère Patrick Ortlieb, has only three podiums on the world circuit.
Under the ever present sun in Méribel, Corinne Suter (28) is the only favorite to have held her rank: after struggling to return from a concussion suffered in January, Suter won her 5th world medal on Saturday, the 3rd consecutive downhill (2nd at Are in 2019, victorious at Cortina in 2021).
Italian Olympic vice-champion Sofia Goggia, a big favorite, missed herself by committing several faults, finishing far from the podium before being disqualified for having straddled a door.
Swiss Jasmine Flury smiles at the finish of the women's downhill at the Alpine Skiing World Championships in Méribel on February 11, 2023 © Jeff PACHOUD / AFP
The French did not find the key to the Roc de Fer track: Laura Gauché took 12th place, Romane Miradoli 15th and the young Anouck Errard (23) 21st.
© 2023 AFP