Switzerland's Patrick Kueng claimed his first world title on Saturday by winning the men's downhill at Beaver Creek, denying runner-up Travis Ganong a victory in front of his home crowd.
Kueng led the power Swiss team to two podium spots as his teammate Beat Feuz took the bronze medal on the icy Birds of Prey course in the Colorado resort town.
Kueng finished in a time of one minute, 43.18 seconds, just 0.24secs ahead of silver medallist Ganong. Feuz was third in 1:43.49.
This is Kueng's first podium in three World Championship starts.
His best previous finish at the Worlds was a seventh in the downhill two years ago in Schladming, Austria.
Kueng, who started from the 19th spot, skied a near perfect run, topping an earlier performance by Feuz and then watching Ganong fall short.
Ganong has been hot lately taking bronze in the last World Cup downhill in Kitzbuehel just a month after he won his first World Cup downhill in Santa Caterina, Italy.
Feuz placed second in the World Cup downhill in Beaver Creek in December as he continues his comeback from a myriad of injuries.
American Steven Nyman finished fourth with a time of 1:43.52 while France's Guillermo Fayed rounded out the top five in 1:43.57.
Defending world downhill champ Aksel Lund Svindal placed sixth in 1:43.63 and reigning Olympic champ Matthias Mayer finished 11th in 1:44.10.
The Americans and Swiss both placed three skiers in the top ten.
Bode Miller was unable to compete in the downhill Saturday after he underwent surgery to repair a torn hamstring tendon resulting from a crash in the super-G.
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