Two-hundredths of a second away from his first crystal globe of the season

In 2022, Marco Odermatt won the large crystal globe for overall victory in the World Cup and the small crystal globe for finishing top of the giant slalom rankings. In 2023, he won the large globe and two small ones (giant slalom and super-G). The man from Nidwalden currently has a great opportunity to win four of these coveted trophies in the same season. He is within touching distance of the large globe and the globes for the giant slalom, super-G and downhill, which he could win for the first time. The last person to win all four crystal globes in one season was Hermann Maier in 2000/01. 

On Sunday, Odi had the chance to secure victory in the super-G rankings with one race to go. He needed to finish at least second if the Austrian Vincent Kriechmayr were to win. Kriechmayr actually won the race, and Marco Odermatt narrowly missed out on the trophy by finishing third. He was two-hundredths of a second behind Jeffrey Read (CAN), who surprisingly finished second. With one race to go, Marco Odermatt is 81 points ahead of the only other person who can still win the super-G globe. If Kriechmayr also wins the final World Cup race in Saalbach, Odermatt needs to finish at least 13th to win the trophy for a second time and retain it from 2022/23.  

But his third-place finish means he can celebrate his 18th podium finish of the season and by far his best result at Kvitfjell. He didn't celebrate straight away though, because he was not happy with himself and his race at the finish line on Sunday. He repeatedly hit his helmet with his hands, and later explained his temporary frustration on Swiss television: “I was fast by my standards in the lower section, but I repeatedly failed to take the higher line in the technical corners here. That's why I thought I'd lose even more time at the bottom. But I am very happy. I would have taken this podium place beforehand. Of course, the race for the globe continues because Vincent won. I would have liked to have the globe in the bag, but you don't always get what you want, and it’s great for the spectators that the title race is still exciting.” 

Because the Frenchman Cyprien Sarrazin was unable to compete in the downhill on Saturday, Odermatt could have theoretically even won the downhill crystal globe for the first time in Kvitfjell. However, he would have needed to win on a course where the 26-year-old has never finished higher than 13th. Odermatt finished 7th and was happy with this position.  

Away from the spotlight, another Stöckli skier experienced personal success in Norway. Lars Rösti, the 26-year-old from the Bernese Oberland, competed in a World Cup super-G for only the second time and won his first two World Cup points in this discipline after finishing 29th.