Europe 1 with AFP 5:34 p.m., February 19, 2023, modified at 5:35 p.m., February 19, 2023

Sublimated by perfect weather, the Alpine Ski Worlds in Courchevel and Méribel smiled on the stars Marco Odermatt and Mikaela Shiffrin, in front of a discreet French public except on the closing Sunday, and satisfied organizers.

The balance sheet of the French teams was saved by the two medals of Alexis Pinturault.

The 2023 Alpine Ski Worlds in Méribel and Courchevel ended on Sunday with the men's slalom won by Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen.

A fortnight that ends with a mixed record for the French teams.

Only two medals were gleaned by Alexis Pinturault for the Blues.

The child from Courchevel shone on his slopes with gold in the combined and bronze in the super-G, enough to hide the infuriating performances of Clément Noël (4th in the slalom), Tessa Worley (exit at the end of the giant) and Marie Lamure (4th parallel).

"It was difficult because there have been a lot of injuries this year, especially among the men," nuanced Alexis Pinturault after the slalom on Sunday.

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Splendid weather

"It's in line with the world hierarchy today, noted Pierre Mignerey, national technical director of the French Ski Federation. Alexis (Pinturault) played his card very well, Clément (Noël) goes to nothing (fourth in the slalom three hundredths from the podium, editor's note), Tessa (Worley) too."

"We saw young people pointing the tip of their noses," he added, citing in particular Marie Lamure, fourth in the individual parallel.

Thank you weather!

With splendid weather for two weeks, none of the eleven races were delayed or canceled, an unprecedented success for the Alpine Skiing World Championships.

The organizers also succeeded in their bet of a competition held on two different sites (Méribel for the women, Courchevel for the men), with tracks hailed by the sportsmen, in particular the Eclipse, created especially for the event in Courchevel.

"It's a success; according to the feedback from the federations and the athletes, we have results above everyone's expectations", rejoiced the president of the organizing committee Bernard Front.

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A "shy" public

Apart from a few well-attended races (men's downhill, men's slalom), the competition lacked an audience, around the track or in stands that were rarely full.

Many vacationers, on these very tourist sites, discovered with a certain indifference the holding of the event.

The organization puts forward 120,000 spectators during the fortnight, a figure to be qualified with at least a quarter of this total including spectators without tickets counted by it at the edge of the slopes or in the "fan zone".

“Over a few days it was more timid, especially in the first week. Skiing does not have the place in France that it has in Switzerland or Austria, a national sport, commented the director of the event Perrine Pelen But we can rejoice in the attendance and the enthusiasm of the spectators."

“We were sailing on sight following two years of Covid. It plays into the revival and dynamics of major events”, added the president of the French Ski Federation (FFS) Fabien Saguez.

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Shiffrin and Odermatt, queen and king of alpine skiing

Expected, the two champions quickly erased the slight doubts that accompanied them on their arrival.

Young prince of sport, Odermatt landed in Courchevel with an already very rich record in the World Cup, but without a world medal.

His resounding victories in downhill, a discipline he had never tamed, and during the giant, crowned him the new king of alpine skiing, at 25, a year after his Olympic title in giant.

Two years her senior, Mikaela Shiffrin has been on the women's circuit for several years but had bad memories of the Olympic Games in Beijing last year, which ended without medal or glory.

After a miss in the combined at the opening of the Worlds, she quickly chased away this nascent nightmare, taking silver in the super-G two days later, before gold in the giant and then another silver medal at the end. slalom, bringing his total to 14 medals at the Worlds.

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Surprises on the slopes

Behind the two monarchs, several surprises slipped onto the podiums.

Starting with Canadian Laurence Saint-Germain, slalom gold medalist at 28, when she had never done better than sixth place in this discipline in her seven-year career.

And what about his compatriot James, known as "Jack", Crawford?

His three World Cup podiums seemed very light before the super-G, ahead of the references Odermatt and Aleksander Aamodt Kilde.

But it was the 25-year-old skier who struck gold.

In the women's downhill, the Swiss Jasmine Flury, another skier more accustomed to the shadow of places of honor than to the light of podiums, shone by climbing to the top step.