Clarey grew up in Tignes and learned to ski when he was five. In January 1997 he took part in FIS races for the first time , with his first victory at this level in January 1998. From December 1999 onwards he played in the European Cup . At the Junior World Championships 2001 in Verbier he was fourth in the downhill, at the same time as the Canadian Jan Hudec . On December 20, 2002, he achieved a podium for the first time in a European Cup downhill (third in the downhill from Laax ). He made his debut in the World Cup on November 29, 2003 in Lake Louise , where he finished 50th in the downhill. He scored World Cup points for the first time on January 10, 2004 in Chamonix with 29th place in the downhill. On January 22nd, 2004 he won a European Cup race for the first time, a downhill run in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee . Another victory followed five days later in Tarvisio , which together with another podium result in second place in the discipline ranking.
Due to a torn cruciate ligament in his left knee, Clarey could not contest a single race in the 2004/05 season, and the following season was also marked by injuries. He finally made it to the top of the world in winter 2006/07 . On March 10, 2007 he achieved his first top 10 placement in the World Cup , finishing sixth on the downhill from Kvitfjell . In the European Cup he won three races; with this he secured victory in the downhill and combined rankings. After the winter of 2007/08 was rather moderate, he missed the start of the 2008/09 season due to a cross break. At the end of November 2009 he returned to racing, but suffered another cruciate ligament tear on January 8, 2009 during downhill training in Val-d'Isère (this time in his right knee).
Clarey achieved five more top 10 placements in the 2012/13 season . On January 19, 2013 in Wengen he achieved the highest current speed ever recorded in a race of the Alpine Ski World Cup when he passed the Hanegg Schuss on the Lauberhorn run at 161.9 km / h (he finished the race in 5th place). Due to pain in the sciatic nerve , he had to end the season a week later and have an operation on his back. Despite this setback, he was able to maintain his level in the 2013/14 season . He made it into the top 10 five times, including two podiums, second place in Val Gardena on December 21, 2013 (synonymous with his best career result) and third place in Kvitfjell on March 1, 2014. The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi , however, were disappointing , where he retired in the downhill and reached 19th place in the Super-G.
In the winter of 2014/15 , Clarey finished three times in the top 10 in world cup races, and twice in the winter of 2015/16 (including a fourth place on the Hahnenkamm run in Kitzbühel ). He was back on the podium on January 21, 2017, in third place in Kitzbühel. He achieved two top 10 placements in the 2017/18 season . At the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang , he did not get past 18th place in the downhill. On January 27, 2019, Clarey reached his fifth podium in the World Cup with second place in the Super-G in Kitzbühel; ten days later he won the silver medal in Super-G at the 2019 World Championships in Åre , at the same time as Vincent Kriechmayr . At 38 years and 29 days, he is the oldest medalist in the history of Alpine World Ski Championships.
France
