United States' Ted Ligety smiles during the men's super-G at the Alpine skiing world championships in Schladming, Austria, Wednesday, Feb.6,2013. United States' Ted Ligety speeds down the course during the men's super-G, at the Alpine skiing world championships in Schladming, Austria, Wednesday, Feb.6, 2013. United States' Ted Ligety skis towards the finish line during the men's super-G at the Alpine skiing world championships in Schladming, Austria, Wednesday, Feb.6,2013. SCHLADMING, Austria (AP) - Ted Ligety produced a blistering finish Wednesday to win the super-G at the world championships, his first career victory in the discipline. The American took risks in the final section of the Planai course to win in 1 minute, 23.96 seconds. Gauthier De Tessieres of France was 0.20 back in second. Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway, who won three of the four World Cup super-Gs this season, was another 0.02 back in third. Defending champion Christof Innerhofer of Italy finished 1.09 off the pace. "Today was unbelievable," said Ligety, who was the 10th starter. It was a nerve-wracking 30 minutes, waiting for all the favorites to come down. (To) finally see (Svindal) come down right behind me was a huge weight off my shoulders. Ligety made a super-G podium only once before, finishing second in a World Cup at Val d'Isere, France, in 2009. This season, he had finished fourth in two races. "I am having a good year in super-G but I didn't think this was possible," Ligety said. I thought I had a chance for a medal. I knew I had to take many risks at the bottom to have a chance. I tried not to slide and to ski as clean as possible. The gold is his second medal from a world championship. Two years ago, he won the giant slalom in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. It was the second medal in two days for the U.S. ski team, one day after Julia Mancuso took third in the women's super-G. "Julia always does well at the big events," Ligety said. I knew I had a good chance myself today and it's great to make a contribution to the success of the team. Lindsey Vonn crashed in Tuesday's race, tearing knee ligaments that will keep her out for the rest of the season. "It's very sad for Lindsey because she was doing great but it didn't matter for my race," Ligety said. You have to move on. I am sure she will be back next year. As a ski racer, you can't let that affect you too much. Ligety trailed then-leader De Tessieres by 0.41 at the first intermediate time 30 seconds into his run. He reduced the deficit to 0.06 over the next 30 seconds and beat the Frenchman in the bottom section. De Tessieres, whose best super-G result on the circuit was eighth, had not qualified for the French team but replaced Johan Clarey, who pulled out with a back injury on Sunday. "It's difficult to describe this week," De Tessieres said. I hadn't qualified and got a phone call from the coach a couple of days ago and now I am here. I am so happy. It's amazing, a crazy story. Several favorites led Ligety at the first split, including Austria's Matthias Mayer, Italy's Matteo Marsaglia and Innerhofer, and Svindal. The course was set by Norway coach Tron Moger, who also placed the gates when Svindal won the super-G in Val Gardena, Italy, in December. "It was tough," Svindal said. I took a lot of risks and had a small mistake at the end. The conditions were OK, but not ideal. With this (low) light, you don't see the bumps. I am satisfied. Ted did just great. He would have had a great run with number 22 as well.