When the pundits attempted to predict the women's downhill champion at the Salt Lake Olympics, Carole Montillet was about the last name to come up. But when the spray of snow settled in the finish area of Snowbasin's Wildflower downhill course Tuesday, Montillet's name lit up the scoreboard first.

The Frenchwoman made her first major downhill win a precious one, taking the Olympic gold with a shockingly fast run of 1 minute, 39.56 seconds, nearly half a second faster than Italian veteran Isolde Kostner, who won the silver in 1:40.01. Renate Goetschl of Austria claimed the bronze in 1:40.39.

One might expect to see the names of those bronze and silver medalists on the leader board, or even that of hometown girl Picabo Street, the two-time Olympic medalist who had announced months ago that these Olympics would be her last and this race specifically the finale of her illustrious ski racing career. All three were among the favorites coming into competition.

Kostner was the World Cup standings leader entering the Olympics and Goetschl the current runner-up on the downhill chart. Street won the training run on this hill just three days prior.

But Montillet had never won a world class downhill before. Her lone World Cup win came in the super G discipline almost exactly a year ago at Garmisch, Germany. Though she has recorded podium finishes in World Cup downhill before, she had not been better than 7th this season and had not shown much promise in Olympic training runs.

None of that mattered on race day.

"First of all, I chose the most direct lines in coming down in this downhill, so I think it was a really good race and I realized that the slope was really, really fast," Montillet said. "You really had to dare in order to come first, which is exactly what I did. I had a great feeling on the jumps. I felt well-balanced and it actually felt easier than during the training runs."

Montillet found the fastest line down the big mountain course where others could not. Kostner got off to a slow start over the opening portion of the course and failed to make up the difference below. Goetschl had a steady run, but still came up short. Street had exceptionally fast split times in the upper reaches of the course, but bogged down in soft snow on the lower portion, a victim of her late start number and sunny Utah skies. She finished 16th in 1:41.17, even behind teammate Kirsten Clark, who was 12th in 1:41.03.

"I think for some of us with the late (bib) numbers today (No. 26), the snow changed a bit on the bottom, and it made it really hard to be fast in there," Street said. "We waxed for a warmer temperature up top, for the sun to hit that flat. So when you came down and you hit the shade, it made it tough. I could actually feel myself slowing down going through there."

Street, who won the Olympic downhill silver eight years ago in Lillehammer and the super G gold four years ago in Nagano, made it clear that, win or lose, today marked the end of her competitive skiing career. No longer seeking the "perfect turn," she plans to slide around the slopes with mere mortals from now on. But a look back at her racing career means more to her than just medals, and that portion of her career she intends to retain.

"I've been able to make a lot of difference in a lot of lives, and I hope to continue that," Street said. "I'm really relieved to be through with my career and to be safe. I wouldn't change anything for the world."

— Scott Willoughby, MountainZone.com Correspondent