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 The Norwegian, who also claimed the Super-G crown, made the best of
the soft snow conditions to clock one minute 40.86 seconds and
record the 10th World Cup win of his career.
He left nearest rival Hannes Reichelt 88 points behind after the
Austrian had to settle for ninth on the French piste hosting the
World Cup finals.
"To cross the line and see my time in green was a liberation.
Winning on the last day to take the cup is just beyond words," he
said.
"I didn't know Hannes's time and my coach did not say a word. But I
had not planned to adapt to Hannes's time anyway. It might have
looked easy from the outside but I never had that much pressure."
"It's hard to tell what it means to win the downhill globe. It can't
compare to a medal or winning Kitzbuehel. They are only one-day
joys. A globe crowns the whole season," he added.
Olympic Super-G champion Jansrud emulates fellow Norwegian Aksel
Lund Svindal who also won both speed globes in 2013 and 2014 but
missed almost the entire season with a torn Achilles tendon.
Jansrud could yet claim the overall World Cup after the 100 points
he collected moved him 64 points behind three-times big champion
Marcel Hirscher who will take part in Thursday's Super-G to try and
score vital points.
"If I win tomorrow, I'll be ahead of Marcel and it might put him
under pressure a bit," he said.
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In his very last World Cup downhill, Swiss Didier Defago bid a
splendid farewell to the discipline by taking second place, 0.24
behind Jansrud.
The 2010 Olympic champion finished 0.04 ahead of Austria's Georg
Streitberger to end a brilliant career on a high note.
"I'm glad. It's the best downhiller of the season ahead of me and I
can only be content with my race," said Defago, whose real farewell
will take place in Thursday's Super-G. In a career spanning 18
years, the 37-year-old won only five World Cup races but the ones
that matter in Alpine skiing history -- Wengen, Kitzbuehel, Val
Gardena and Bormio.
(Reporting by Manuele Lang. Writing by Francois Thomazeau.)
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