Marco Odermatt’s impressive winning streak continues. After third place at halftime, the dominator from Switzerland raced to victory in Aspen.
In the end everything was as usual: Marco Odermatt also won the ninth giant slalom this season. The Swiss was unbeatable on Saturday (March 2, 2024) in Aspen (USA) despite a serious mistake in the second round. Odermatt won ahead of his compatriot Loic Meillard (+ 0.34 seconds) and Timon Haugan (Norway/ + 0.58 seconds). ).
Odermatt: From third place to victory
At first it smelled like Odermatt’s first defeat of the season. The Swiss, who perfected the small crystal ball in the first giant slalom on Friday, started as the big favorite. But unlike usual, the Dominantor made a mistake in the first round. He was late several times and didn’t catch the ideal line.
At the finish slope, the fastest time didn’t show up as usual, but only third place. 0.32 seconds slower than the fastest – Alexander Steen Olsen from Norway. Odermatt also couldn’t beat his compatriot Meillard’s time. The series winner shrugged his shoulders in disappointment in the sunshine of Aspen and fought to catch up after the break.
Odermatt went on the attack in the second round and used incredible technique to avoid a fall and an early exit on the steep slope. In the middle section, the high-flyer pushed the envelope and became faster and faster. Odermatt drove fantastically and set the new best time. Meillard – second after the first round – completed the course without any major blunders, but did not reach top speed and was 0.34 seconds slower than his outstanding teammate. The half-time leader Olsen even fell back to 17th place after a serious mistake. Haugan (5th after the first round) was happy about a podium finish.
The Norwegian Alexander Steen Olsen fell far behind after taking the lead at half time.
Odermatt hunts Stenmark-Rejord
Odermatt has won the last twelve giant slaloms across all seasons and is also keeping an eye on ski icon Ingemar Stenmark’s historical record. The Swede once achieved 14 giant slalom victories in a row.
Schmid in the top 15
Alexander Schmid was also happy. After the elimination on Friday, the Oberstdorfer coped much better in the second giant slalom and was rewarded with twelfth place. In the final he lacked a bit of pace – so the best German giant slalom driver lost one place.
Gratz and Grammel with messed up finals
Fabian Gratz, who narrowly missed the final round three times this season in 31st place, qualified in 27th place – but his patience was put to the test in the final. Because the wind was blowing violently across the route, the Germans stopped. This seemed to irritate him. Gratz lost a lot of time after a botched run and finished the race in 25th place.
Anton Grammel got it even worse. Starting 25th, he first drove past the gate and then slid down the slope into the valley. There was no grip at all, so the German had no chance and was more than ten seconds slower than the competition. Because not all of the riders who started on the difficult slope reached the finish, finishing 27th still received World Cup points.
Stockinger is eliminated
Jonas Stockinger was denied this. He was the only one of the four Germans to miss the final. He was eliminated early after a mistake in the upper part.