Norway's Kjetil Jansrud triumphed in the men's downhill at the FIS Alpine Skiing World Championships in Åre ©Getty Images

Norway’s Kjetil Jansrud became the oldest winner of the men’s downhill world title after edging the retiring Aksel Lund Svindal at the International Ski Federation (FIS) Alpine Skiing World Championships in Åre today.

Jansrud headed into the competition without a podium finish this season and was also recuperating from surgery on his left hand two weeks ago.

The five-time Olympic medallist produced a superb performance in the Swedish ski resort, though, as he completed the course in a time of 1min 20.00sec.

It proved narrowly enough to secure the world title for the first time in his career.

Victory also saw Jansrud become the oldest winner of the title at the age of 33 years and 165 days, making him older than Austria’s Hannes Trinkl, who achieved the feat at 33 years and six days in 2001.

Jansrud edged his fellow Norwegian Svindal, who finished just 0.02 seconds down in second place.

Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal, left, celebrated the end of his career with the silver medal ©Getty Images
Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal, left, celebrated the end of his career with the silver medal ©Getty Images

Svindal had announced prior to the race that the downhill would mark the end of his 16-year international career.

The 36-year-old had won two Olympic gold medals, five world titles and 11 World Cup classifications during his career.

This included two overall World Cup crowns, with Svindal having earned 36 World Cup race wins.

Austria’s Vincent Kriechmayr joined the Norwegians on the podium after he added to his Alpine combined silver medal.

Kriechmayr achieved a time of 1:20.31 to secure the bronze medal in the downhill competition.

Competition is due to continue tomorrow with the women’s downhill event scheduled to take place.