Jean-Luc Crétier

Jean-Luc Crétier
Medal record
Men's alpine skiing
Representing  France
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1998 Nagano Downhill
Jean-Luc Crétier at the Lauberhorn downhill 1995

Jean-Luc Crétier (born 28 April 1966 in Albertville, Savoie) is a retired French World Cup alpine ski racer. He was one of the four members of the "Top Guns" team, created and trained by Serge Guillaume outside the mainstream of the French Alpine Ski Federation, along with Luc Alphand, Franck Piccard, and Denis Rey.

At age 31, Crétier won the gold medal in the downhill at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano. He was the fourth Frenchman to win the Olympic downhill, but the first in thirty years, since Jean-Claude Killy in 1968.

It was the only victory of Crétier's international career; however, he achieved five World Cup podium finishes, three in the two months prior to his Olympic title.

Crétier finished fourth in the combined event at the 1992 Winter Olympics in his hometown of Albertville.[1] His final World Cup race was just ten months after Nagano; he incurred a career-ending knee injury at Val Gardena in December 1998.[2]

World Cup results

Season standings

Season Age Overall Slalom Giant
 slalom 
Super-G Downhill Combined
1989 22 44 34 — — — 7
1990 23 59 — — 18 — —
1991 24 61 — — 18 — —
1992 25 55 — — 19 — 13
1993 26 97 — — 39 50 —
1994 27 38 — — — 13 —
1995 28 25 — — 44 10 6
1996 29 94 — — — 36 —
1997 30 62 — — 30 29 —
1998 31 18 — — 27 5 —
1999 32 68 — — 26 39 —

Race podiums

  • 0 wins
  • 5 podiums - (5 DH), 25 top tens
Season Date Location Discipline Place
1994 18 Dec 1993 Italy Val Gardena, Italy Downhill 3rd
29 Jan 1994 France Chamonix, France Downhill 2nd
1998 4 Dec 1997 United States Beaver Creek, USA Downhill 2nd
17 Jan 1998  Switzerland  Wengen, Switzerland Downhill 2nd
23 Jan 1998 Austria Kitzbühel, Austria Downhill 3rd

World Championship results

  Year    Age   Slalom   Giant 
 slalom 
Super-G Downhill Combined
1991 24 — — 11 — —
1993 26 — — — — —
1996 29 — — — 35 16
1997 30 — — — 15 13
  • The Super-G in 1993 was cancelled after multiple weather delays.

Olympic results

  Year    Age   Slalom   Giant 
 slalom 
Super-G Downhill Combined
1988 21 DSQ1 — — — 6
1992 25 — — 24 — 4
1994 27 — — — 24 —
1998 31 — — 25 1 —

References

  1. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Jean-Luc Crétier Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  2. ^ "Olympic downhill champion injured". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 20, 1998. p. 11F.