Claude Crétier made his European Cup debut in Les Orres in January 1996 . In the same year he took part in the Junior World Championships at Hoch-Ybrig and finished sixth in the downhill, in the slalom he was eliminated. After a few winters at the FIS and European Cup level, he started in the Super-G in Schladming for the first time in the World Cup on January 9, 1999 . He won his first points just two weeks later, finishing 26th in the prestigious Hahnenkamm run . In the following season he made it into the top ten for the first time with seventh place in Val Gardena . In the next two winters he consistently ranked among the points before a three-month break from racing stopped him.
At the World Cup comeback in the 2001/02 season , he qualified for the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City , where he impressed with a fifth place in downhill. On March 2, 2002 he celebrated the greatest success of his career when he finished second behind Hannes Trinkl on the downhill from Kvitfjell . He was then unable to build on this result. Although he was allowed to take part in the 2003 World Cup in St. Moritz , he was only 17th in the Super-G. In his last three seasons in the World Cup, he only won two points. He let the 2005/06 season end in the European Cup and ended his career after the French championships in Val-d'Isère . Crétier contested a total of 87 World Cup races and was crowned French national champion three times. In 2001 and 2003 he won the Super-G, in 2002 he was successful in the downhill.
After his active career, he first trained the French speed women and was responsible for athletes such as Alexis Pinturault , Victor Muffat-Jeandet and Thomas Mermillod Blondin as a technical group trainer in the French association until 2017 . He works as a ski instructor in Courchevel .
France