Sarrazin trumps Odermatt for prestigious Kitzbuhel downhill win

Sarrazin, who in Wengen last week won the super-G and finished second in both downhills, clocked a winning time of one minute and 55.75 seconds down the 3.3km-long Streif course in the upmarket Austrian resort to become the first French winner in the discipline here in 27 years.

"I'm not on a cloud," Sarrazin said. "My run wasn't perfect like in Bormio," where he won his first World Cup downhill in late December.

"But when I saw first place flash up in the finish area, I jumped with joy. I screamed my lungs out! I've hardly got my voice left and I think tomorrow I'll have lost it."

Italy's Florian Schieder was second at 0.05 seconds to mirror his first-ever podium finish from last year.

Switzerland's runaway overall standings leader Marco Odermatt edged American Ryan Cochran-Siegle for third (+0.34).

"The Streif is like a good action movie - exciting until the end," had been the race take of Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Austrian bodybuilder/actor-cum-former California governor who is an ever-present during racing.

Irish-German actor Michael Fassbender and American politician John Kerry were also among the celebrities in the stands for the 84th running of the downhill, which made its debut in 1931.

The course on the Hahnenkamm mountain, named after a rooster's comb, has a vertiginous start that propels racers to 100km/h in the first five seconds.

They quickly accelerate to motorway-coasting speeds of 140km/h further down the piste. Snakes and rolls send competitors barrelling through a wide variety of terrain, in parts propelling them in the air, only for them to quickly re-align for icy traverses that test technical ability and mastery of well-honed equipment.

Full of respect

"I am so full of respect for these athletes," said Hollywood giant Fassbender.

The victory was a fourth in the World Cup for Sarrazin, whose Bormio victory sparked a rich vein of form.

He is the first French speed skier to win since compatriot Luc Alphand took the last of his three Kitzbuhel downhills in 1997.

"He's writing me out of history!" Alphand said. "We knew he had the inner strength. He is the story, all the work he has put in."

Alphand's son Nils was also competing in the race, eventually finishing 46th in the 57-strong field, almost three seconds behind Sarrazin.

Odermatt's third place consolidated the 26-year-old Swiss skier's place atop the overall standings, on 1,076 points, a massive 516 ahead of Sarrazin.

Austrian Marco Schwarz and Norwegian Aleksander Aamodt Kilde sit in third and fourth spots, but both racers have been ruled out for the rest of the season with injuries, the latter last week in Wengen after a horrific crash in which he dislocated a shoulder and sustained cuts to his leg and face.

Up for grabs, however, is the title of best downhiller, Odermatt leading Sarrazin by a measly 26 points.

"Marco asked me, 'How far ahead of me are you?' but I replied, 'You're still ahead'," Sarrazin said.

"It's a little battle between us. I keep nibbling away at it, bit by bit, but we'll see at the end of the season."

Racing continues with a second downhill on Saturday and a slalom on Sunday.