Ottawa skier Dustin Cook has been named the U.S. national downhill champion, a victory that he says left his American competitors scratching their heads.

Ottawa's Dustin Cook, right, poses with the trophy after winning the U.S. Alpine Championships downhill in Aspen, Colo., Wednesday. (Submitted by Kelby Halbert)

"I thought it was pretty funny and all the Americans that were behind me — the two guys on the podium — were like, 'What the hell? You're not supposed to be able to win this,' " Cook told CBC News, noting that the official U.S. ski team web site lists second-place winner Will Gregorak as champ.

Cook won the title at the U.S. Alpine Championships downhill in Aspen, Colo., Wednesday.

The 22-year-old said he had nothing to lose.

"I kind of thought it would be funny to win on U.S. soil in front of all the Americans and ended up somehow squeezing the win by the smallest of margins."

Cook wins in 1:12.40

Cook won by two one-hundredths of a second with a time of 1:12.40 and narrowly avoided disaster just before the race began. Cook explained on his blog that 25 seconds before he was to start, his start coach frantically pulled him out of the gate yelling that he was wearing the wrong bib.

"We ended up sorting it out but had [the coach] not noticed and pulled me back this could be a very different posting," he wrote.

Cook said that it's the biggest title he's ever won. His next goal is a Canadian championship.

His name will be etched into the championship trophy, but it will remain in the U.S.

Dustin's parents, who used to be ski instructors, own a chalet in Lac-Sainte-Marie, Que. Cook trains in the village as well.

Dustin's father, Paul, said the news didn't sink in until his son called home.

"He just said, 'Unbelievable that I'm the... U.S. national downhill champion.' Because downhill traditionally has not been Dustin's strong point. He's more of a technical skier."