Wendy Holdener successfully defended her alpine combined title at the FIS Alpine Ski World Championships after a stunning slalom run in Are.
Holdener was victorious two years ago in St. Moritz but her title defence looked in danger when she finished fifth after the downhill leg of Friday's event.
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She made up time on the slalom, though, as she edged past specialist Petra Vlhova to take gold under the lights in Sweden.
Vlhova – who is enjoying a thrilling World Cup battle with Mikaela Shiffrin in both the slalom and giant slalom – had blasted a new target with a superb second run.
She led by over a second after stopping the clock with an overall time of two minutes 2.16 seconds, but her lead was short-lived as Holdener turned on the style.
The 25-year-old finished 0.03secs clear of Vlhova to claim Switzerland's first medal at this year's World Championships, the pair joined on the podium by Norway's Ragnhild Mowinckel.
WELTMEISTERIN! G O L D ! @WendyHoldener erringt wie vor zwei Jahren den WM-Titel in der alpinen Kombination! Sieg @are2019 mit 3 Hundertstel Vorsprung vor @PetraVlhova. Herzliche Gratulation! #swissskiteam #gold #worldchampion
— SwissSkiTeam (@swissskiteam) February 8, 2019
Ramona Siebenhofer had led after the downhill run but she was unable to hold onto a medal position and had to settle for fourth.
The downhill leg had seen Lindsey Vonn step up her practice ahead of the final race of her career, the American setting the eighth fastest time before opting out of the slalom.
