updated 5:17 a.m. ET Feb. 13, 2009

VAL D'ISERE, France - Carlo Janka of Switzerland won the men's giant slalom at the World Championships on Friday to add to his bronze medal in the downhill.

Janka timed 2 minutes, 18.82 seconds for the two runs down the Face de Bellevarde course.

Benjamin Raich of Austria finished second, 0.71 behind, and Ted Ligety of the United States was third, 0.99 back.

It was an emotional victory for the 22-year-old Janka, who is the regular roommate of Daniel Albrecht and his closest friend on the Swiss team.

Albrecht woke Thursday from a three-week induced coma at a hospital in Innsbruck, Austria, after sustaining lung and brain injuries when he crashed heavily in downhill training at Kitzbuehel on Jan. 22.

Albrecht won silver in GS at the last worlds and had been scheduled to defend his world title in the super-combined here.

The 22-year-old Janka, known as "Iceman" in Switzerland for his laid-back personality, was deeply affected by the accident. He raced at Kitzbuehel only after long talks with the Swiss team coaches.

Janka was widely favored for the GS after finishing his preparations at Veysonnaz, Switzerland, earlier this week. He relishes the technical Bellevarde slope, taking bronze in Saturday's downhill and winning a World Cup GS race here last December.

Olympic GS champion Raich also went home to train this week. The 30-year-old Austrian was under pressure to deliver his country's first medal in the men's races at the fourth attempt.

Raich, a two-time World Cup GS champion who leads the current discipline standings, trailed Janka by 0.48 after the first run and could not apply any pressure before the Swiss was last to race.

Ligety leaped into the bronze medal position after being ninth fastest in the morning run. His second run of 1:09.85 was the best time of the afternoon and secured the first medal for the U.S. men at Val d'Isere.

"I just tried to get all my nerves out," he said. "I knew I had a bad first run and had to give everything and attack all the way. I got lucky.

Ligety trailed Janka by 1.71 after the first run and was 0.75 away from the podium.

"It took a little bit of skill, but coming out of ninth to make up that amount of time is luck as well," he said.

It's a second major championship medal for the 24-year-old American. He won gold at the 2006 Turin Olympics in traditional combined.

Austrian teenager Marcel Hirscher placed fourth, 0.07 off a medal.

Didier Cuche of Switzerland was seeking a third medal after his gold in super-G and silver in downhill, but finished sixth, 1.69 behind Janka.

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Defending world GS champion Aksel Lund Svindal also could not add to his tally of two medals at Val d'Isere. The Norwegian placed ninth after he won the super-combined and took bronze in super-G.

Bode Miller's disappointing championships continued.

After being 17th in the first run, the 2003 world champion in GS skied out before halfway in the afternoon. He was the only one of the top 30 morning racers not to complete the second leg.

The 31-year-old American star is now winless in 26 World Cup events and four world championship races this season.

Racers enjoyed perhaps the best weather conditions so far in the two-week championships.

The Olympic piste was bathed in sunshine for both runs on a crisp, clear day with the temperature at minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 F) in the finish area when racing began.

Though heavy snowfalls of recent days had been cleared away, some powder remained to take the harshest edges off the notoriously steep and icy course.

However, some racers complained that the surface was damaged when volunteer crews prepared the slope for the team event that was canceled by bad weather on Wednesday.

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