The family legacy in Courchevel began nearly half a century ago when Andre and Christiane Pinturault opened the high-altitude Hotel Annapurna.
On Tuesday, Alexis Pinturault won a gold medal on home snow just down the road at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships to enrich the family imprint on the posh French resort where his grandparents laid their foundations in 1974.
“To share this with the French people and also the Courchevel people is something really amazing and special,” 31-year-old Pinturault said after dethroning defending champion Marco Schwarz of Austria in a close finish in the combined race.
Photo: AFP
As a child, Pinturault also tried ski jumping — the hill is located adjacent to the finish of Tuesday’s race — and cross-country skiing.
“That was the thing with the Courchevel ski club: When you are young, you can try many different sports. Then you can choose afterward,” he said. “I chose Alpine skiing because that’s the discipline that gave me the most pleasure.”
Pinturault certainly found pleasure on Tuesday, ending a win drought of nearly two years.
In a tricky slalom run on a steep pitch, the Frenchman retained his lead from the super-G portion to edge Schwarz by 0.10 seconds.
The combined event adds the times from one super-G run and one slalom run.
The Austrian, second after the first leg, seemed headed for the victory when leading Pinturault by 0.30 seconds at the final split, but he made a costly mistake at the fourth-to-last gate.
“In my village, where I live, to win a gold medal here, that will be a super memory,” Pinturault said after earning his 10th career medal, and third gold, from major championships.
He previously won the world title in 2019, but was beaten to gold by Schwarz two years later. He also took Olympic silver in 2018. He dominated the discipline when it was still part of the World Cup circuit until 2020, winning six of the last eight season titles, but he had not won a race since March 2021.
Pinturault has been struggling this season, with a third place from a super-G in Beaver Creek, Colorado, in early December last year his only podium result.
“It’s amazing what’s coming out today and I hope to enjoy it, because it was pretty difficult some months ago,” he said.
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