Marco Odermatt on Sunday claimed a record-matching fifth straight FIS Alpine Ski World Cup giant slalom victory, but his win at Alta Badia in Italy was by a more slender margin than the two-time defending overall World Cup champion is used to.
Odermatt heaved a sigh of relief as the Swiss star crossed the line with a combined time just 0.19 seconds faster than Filip Zubcic, who could only shake his head and smile wryly.
Zubcic had seemed set for a first victory in nearly three years and yelled in joy after a perfect run down the Gran Risa saw the Croatian finish more than two seconds ahead of Zan Kranjec.
Photo: AFP
However, Odermatt is almost unbeatable in his favored discipline and matched Marcel Hirscher’s and Ingemar Stenmark’s mark of five straight giant slalom victories.
The Olympic, world and World Cup champion in giant slalom had led after the first run and also laid down a strong second one to claim his 14th victory in the past 20 World Cup races in the event.
“I knew as always, I had to keep risking and really push it and I had a good run,” Odermatt said. “The snow was better than expected in the second run — it was not as bumpy as I expected.”
Photo: Reuters
“I saw it was very tight at top and then the big distance until the third place, so I knew I had to ski really well. I had a good feeling while skiing — it felt very good,” he added.
Twenty-six-year-old Odermatt, who had also won in Alta Badia for the past two years, last week won the only other giant slalom so far this season by almost one full second.
In women’s skiing, Federica Brignone dominated to win a World Cup super G and trim the gap in the overall standings to Mikaela Shiffrin, who skied out at Val d’Isere in France.
Brignone beat Kajsa Vickhoff Lie by almost half a second, finishing 0.44 ahead of the Norwegian skier, who was a surprise second to prevent an Italian one-two in the French Alps.
Thirty-three-year-old Brignone, who won a pair of giant slaloms at Tremblant, Quebec earlier this month, yelled in joy and put her head in her hands when she saw her time after crossing the line.
“I have to be honest, everything was good for me today, even in the parts that maybe I wasn’t at 100 percent immediately. I tried to get back into my rhythm and push even more, that was my strength today,” Brignone said.
It was a 24th World Cup win for Brignone, making her the most successful Italian female skier and moving her level with Gustav Thoni in second overall for her country, behind only Alberto Tomba who won 50 races.
“I don’t look at records, I look at how I’m doing today or recently. Each race is a story in itself and at the moment each race this season is fantastic in its own way,” Brignone said.
Shiffrin failed to finish after missing a turning gate on a blind section that troubled several athletes on Sunday. Olympic champion Lara Gut-Behrami also skied out.
Shiffrin, who skipped Saturday’s downhill on the Saslong course, still leads the overall World Cup standings where she is bidding for a record-tying sixth title.
However, the American skier saw her lead cut to 63 points ahead of 2020 champion Brignone, who is enjoying her best start to a season.
“I’ve certainly given myself some lovely Christmas presents,” Brignone said, laughing.
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