Undeterred, Marco Odermatt is setting his sights on his seventh victory in the seventh giant slalom this winter. The Swiss could set the next record in Palisades Tahoe (USA). Alexander Schmid, who didn’t have a good first run, probably won’t change that.
As so often this season, Odermatt conjured up a dream run in the snow in California on Saturday (February 24, 2024). His lead before the second round (10 p.m. on the BR live stream), however, is only 0.15 seconds behind the Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen.
In addition, River Radamus is currently making hearts beat faster in Palisades Tahoe. The local hero has the best chance of his first ever World Cup podium in third place (+0.78 seconds). Filip Zubcic (Croatia), Odermatt’s worst opponent in the discipline rankings, follows in fourth place (+0.87 seconds). Behind them, the pursuers are already at least a second behind.
Only Kristoffersen comes close to Odermatt
Manuel Feller, who had already made it onto the podium twice in the giant slalom this winter, opened the race. What was worth his time would become apparent immediately afterwards when Odermatt tackled the slopes. With well-measured turns and an ideal line on the steep slope, the World Cup dominator outclassed his opponent by 1.79 seconds – worlds in alpine ski racing.
However, Kristoffersen also has a say in winning the day. The Norwegian managed to stick with Odermatt, especially in the steep sections, and thus kept all his chances for the final open. It seems unlikely that Odermatt and Kristoffersen will be threatened from behind in the second round. Behind them, most of the competition had a hard time with the demanding slope and had to hope for major mistakes from the leading duo.
Schmid behind
From a German perspective, Alexander Schmid was also unable to set any accents and lost a good starting position before the second run. The 29-year-old parallel world champion had a mixed ride and hardly ever found the ideal line on the icy slope. Although he got through well in the key places, he also had to lose speed. This means that in 17th place he is already 2.34 seconds short of Odermatt.
The remaining three German starters are just spectators in the final. Fabian Gratz (+3.14 seconds) was able to hope for the second round for a long time, but missed it by the narrowest of margins in 31st place. Stefan Luitz (41st/+3.78) and Anton Grammel (48/+4.15) had to fall far back in the field.
Odermatt on the hunt for records
With a win in Palisades Tahoe, Odermatt would also take the next step towards his third overall World Cup victory in a row. He is already comfortably leading the ranking with over 900 points. So it should only be a matter of a few more races before the 26-year-old Olympic champion wins the big crystal ball.
There are also more crystal balls and records to be won this season. The Swiss dominator leads the ratings in the downhill, super-G and giant slalom. There is no getting around him, especially in the giant slalom. He has nine wins across the season. With tenth, he would surpass Alberto Tomba’s nine in the slalom from January 1994 to February 1995.
The last time Odermatt had to admit defeat in a giant slalom exactly a year ago was in Palisades Tahoe, of all places. At that time, the Austrian Marco Schwarz, who has been out since December with a torn cruciate ligament, triumphed. Odermatt can win the crystal ball in his flagship discipline next weekend in Aspen.