Odermatt impresses again with dominant giant slalom victory
Marco Odermatt delighted his home fans in Switzerland on Saturday when he claimed his sixth FIS Alpine Ski World Cup race win of the season, while Johannes Lamparter enjoyed a successful weekend at the Nordic Combined World Cup in Estonia.
Switzerland’s Odermatt extended his remarkable streak in giant slalom as he secured victory on home snow in Adelboden, finishing 0.73 seconds ahead of Henrik Kristoffersen.
Saturday’s classic race saw Odermatt dominate the opening runs and then produce the fastest second leg of the day to finish ahead of Kristoffersen in second and compatriot Loïc Meillard in third.
It was a fourth win in five World Cup giant slaloms since October and the 14th straight podium for the 25-year-old who has been virtually untouchable in the discipline during the past two seasons.
It was the 17th career win in World Cup races for Odermatt who was cheered on by more than 24,000 supporters on the slopes of the famous Chuenisbärgli course.
Odermatt, 25, said: “I knew at the start I had to push because of Henrik. As always, I had to attack the race.I was really on the limit with the inside skis, and on the edge. But I thought ‘I can’t go out now, I have to fight’. If you don’t risk you can’t win.”
Saturday also saw Lamparter secure his first win of the season at the FIS Nordic Combined World Cup in Otepää, Estonia.
The Austrian was one of the quickest on the skiing section of the men’s mass start as he finished in third, before delivering the best jump of the day with 99.5m to finish with a total of 133.8 points.
On the second day of individual action, Lamparter would narrowly miss out on victory. After recording a jump of 96.5m he would fail to chase down eventual winner Julian Schmid in the mass start.
Earlier in the week, Kristoffersen made history on Wednesday evening when his third straight Garmisch-Partenkirchen slalom victory saw him become the fourth man to win a World Cup slalom race in at least ten different years.
Wednesday’s iconic Garmisch-Partenkirchen night slalom saw Kristoffersen overcome a nervy second run to claim victory from Austrian Manuel Feller and Frenchman Clément Noël.
Three-time FIS World Cup slalom champion Kristoffersen produced a superb first run to lead by 0.71s, however the late second-run starters struggled in the worsening conditions with Kristoffersen doing enough to win by 1.22s.
It was Kristoffersen’s third straight slalom win down the classic Kandahar slope to equal Alberto Tomba’s record, while he is the fourth man to win a World Cup slalom race in at least ten different years after Italian Tomba, Swedish legend Ingemar Stenmark and old Austrian rival Marcel Hirscher.
Header image: Marco Odermatt (SUI) in action. Credit: Erich Spiess / Red Bull Content Pool
