(Reuters) – Downhill favourite Aleksander Aamodt Kilde was quickest in the first men’s training run at the Alpine ski world championships in Meribel, France on Wednesday.
Norwegian Kilde has dominated the event this season, winning five downhills to lead the World Cup standings in the discipline.
He was 0.15 seconds quicker than Italian Christof Innerhofer with Norway’s Adrian Smiseth Sejersted third fastest, 0.41 seconds behind Kilde.
Austria’s reigning world champion Vincent Kriechmayr ended up 16th, 1.56 seconds behind Kilde.
Swiss Marco Odermatt, the reigning World Cup champion and current leader of the overall standings, was a lowly 21st quickest.
The men’s downhill is scheduled for Sunday.
(Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk, editing by Ed Osmond)
