2024-02-13
Odermatt and Thompson – winning streaks continue
Marco Odermatt continued his winning streak on Saturday, celebrating his tenth victory of the season in Bansko. But there is also good news from the ski cross, most notably due to the Canadian Marielle Thompson.
Regardless of the type of course, the country or type of snow, Marco Odermatt is showing no signs of slowing down. On Saturday, he won in Bansko, Bulgaria, and in doing so extended his winning streak (a total of nine races this season).
Marco Odermatt’s 33 World Cup victories before last weekend have come in Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Italy, France, Andorra, Slovenia, the USA, and Canada. On Saturday, he added the tenth country to this list: Bulgaria. “It’s great to be here and it's really different to all the other races,” said the man from Nidwalden. “Every victory is nice. If you can win almost anywhere, that’s also great. I’m full of confidence and everything is working well. The skis are perfect and I’m having fun skiing,” said Odermatt. This combination is currently proving impossible for his competition to get the better of, even in the giant slalom.
But Marco Odermatt was not the only Stöckli skier to deliver a strong performance on the Banderitza piste in Bansko. In two runs with different course layouts and challenging snow conditions, it was a mental test as much as anything. But Thomas Tumler and Norwegian Rasmus Windingstad passed this test. The 34-year-old Tumler from Graubünden achieved his best result of the season in the World Cup with 8th place and the Norwegian Windingstad was able to celebrate a top-15 result for the second time in 2023/24, finishing 11th.
Marielle Thompson wins twice
The men’s and women’s ski cross racers were in Bakuriani, Georgia, on the weekend, and Canada’s Marielle Thompson shone on the 2023 World Championship course. The 31-year-old, who finished a thankless 4th at the World Championships, won both Saturday’s race and Sunday’s competition. Thompson now leads the World Cup standings after three victories in a row: once in Alleghe and twice in Bakuriani.
In addition to the Canadian, Talina Gantenbein from Graubünden came 3rd and 4th, and India Sherret (Canada) came 4th and 5th, showing that the Stöckli athletes are currently in good form.
Tobias Baur secured another podium finish in Georgia. He finished third on Sunday, placing among the top three in the World Cup for the second time. The other time he did so was two years ago when he finished 3rd in San Candido in South Tyrol. In the final, Baur was beaten by Italy’s Simone Deromedis and Sweden’s David Mobärg, the previous day’s winner. Gil Martin (5th on Sunday) and Jonas Lenherr (6th on Saturday) were two more Stöckli riders that made it into the finals on the weekend.