Canada's James Crawford scorched to a maiden World Cup victory in the prestigious Kitzbuehel downhill on Saturday in a race thankfully spared the spate of serious crashes that marred the super-G.

Crawford, with just four podium places to his name in seven seasons on the circuit, laid down a near-perfect run to clock 1min 53.64sec on the challenging 3.3km-long Streif course on the Hahnenkamm mountain overlooking the upmarket Austrian resort.

Switzerland’s Alexis Monney took second, at 0.08sec, with another Canadian, Cameron Alexander, rounding out the podium a further 0.14sec adrift.

"It's amazing. I don't really have many words that can describe the feeling," said a shell-shocked Crawford, a surprise winner of world super-G gold in Courchevel in 2023 and Olympic combined bronze medallist in Beijing the year previously.

"Winning the world championships was a surreal feeling, but I still had a feeling that I haven't won on the World Cup.

"It's been a dream of mine to win the classics, and for the first one to be in Kitzbuehel in the downhill is incredible.

"Right now I'm still a little bit in shock. Maybe tonight when I lift the Kitzbuehel trophy above my head it will feel totally real."

Crawford, who said his emotions were "scattered", added: "Alexander and I go back and forth in training, to see him pushing that way at the top fired me up a bit, I thought 'okay I know I can beat this guy, so let's bring it today'."

Crawford's victory is Canada's first in the Kitzbuehel downhill since Todd Brooker in 1983, following back-to-back wins by fellow 'Crazy Canucks' Steve Poborski and Ken Read in the 1980-82 seasons.

- 'Canadian cowboys!' -

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained! Amazing stuff, supreme excellence!" boomed the slopeside commentator of Crawford’s run in front of tens of thousands of baying ski fans in warm, sunny conditions.

"Canadian cowboys! Oh my word, incredible run by Crawford, he's the man to beat!"

Crawford held on to bag 100,000 euros ($104,800) for his victory and set himself up nicely ahead of the February 4-16 world championships in Saalbach.

In-form Swiss racer Marco Odermatt, who tops the overall and downhill standings, won Friday’s super-G, but could only finish sixth in the blue riband event, at 0.55sec, as just eight-tenths of a second separated the top 13 racers.

"Last year I was annoyed with second place," said Odermatt. "Today, I crossed the finish line four tenths behind Alexis and it was perfect. Strangely enough, I wasn't annoyed today.

"I didn't get everything right. In such a tight race, the decisive km/h are missing."

Starting with bib number 20, Crawford hit motorway-coasting speeds of 140km/h, negotiating sections that have an 85-percent gradient and 80-metre jumps, all the while battling crippling centrifugal forces.

The icy course, which has a stomach-churning vertiginous start that propels racers to 100km/h in five seconds, features falls, snakes and rolls through a wide variety of terrain.

- Holy Grail -

For those reasons, victory in Kitzbuehel is seen as the Holy Grail of alpine skiing, often compared to winning at Wimbledon or the Formula One race in Monaco.

There is no doubt that there is a voyeuristic, gladitorial draw for the estimated 90,000-strong crowd who flock in for the Kitzbuehel weekend.

But while airhorns and whistles made for a deafening arena, flares lit and flags waving, there was none of the crash drama of Friday, which saw French veteran Alexis Pinturault among three evacuated by helicopter, with a serious knee injury.

The event draws a heady mix between champagne-drinking glitterati and young locals revelling in an alcohol-fuelled rite of passage.

Among onlookers on Saturday was former California governor and Hollywood star Arnold Schwarzenegger and Swedish football great Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

"This is amazing, it feels like a home stadium," said Ibrahimovic, who played for a host of European clubs including Ajax, Juventus, AC and Inter Milan, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United in a storied career.

"I wish I was a skier, but I can't ski!"

lp/nr