Switzerland put on a masterclass in men’s speed skiing this weekend at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Three Swiss skiers—Marco Odermatt, Alexis Monney, and Justin Murisier stood atop the podium on Saturday, February 28, delivering a statement performance that reaffirmed who controls the World Cup narrative heading into the final stretch of the season.
Opening the men’s downhill race was Team USA’s Bryce Bennett, who set the pace with a 1:50.71. He was promptly outclassed by Switzerland’s Justin Murisier, who crossed the finish line 1.57 seconds ahead of the American. However, his lead was short-lived, as teammate Stefan Rogentin raised the bar by another 0.59 seconds.
Rogentin held the hot seat through six more skiers as big name after big name failed to come close. Italy’s Dominik Paris and Florian Schieder, and Team USA’s Ryan Cochran-Siegle managed to pip Murisier by a few milliseconds but were still roughly half a second behind Rogentin. One could have been forgiven for thinking the course was warming up too much to allow for faster times — but then Marco Odermatt entered the race in bib 10 and all bets were off.
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Odermatt, who left the Olympics without a gold medal, was here to remind everyone why he leads the World Cup standings ahead of his teammate and three-time gold medalist Franjo von Allmen. Though slightly off the pace in the top section, he charged through the mid-section and into the notorious “Hell” pitch, skiing into the lead by a commanding 0.98 seconds. It was a massively dominant performance by the 28-year-old.
His margin was so large that it seemed untouchable—until teammate Alexis Monney came dangerously close. Monney was faster than Odermatt in the top section and extended his advantage through sections two and three, skiing into the lead by nearly half a second. But he lost crucial speed toward the bottom and crossed the line just 0.04 seconds behind Odermatt.
That razor-thin margin sealed a Swiss sweep of the podium: Odermatt on top, Monney second, and Rogentin nearly a second back in third. No one else managed to crack that gap, though several came knocking.
Italy’s Giovanni Franzoni, enjoying a breakout season, skied into a tie for fourth alongside Austria’s Vincent Kriechmayr, both 1.20 seconds behind Odermatt and 0.22 seconds shy of the podium.
Switzerland’s Olympic standout Franjo von Allmen finished sixth, bumping Ryan Cochran-Siegle into seventh and making him the top American on the day. A pleasant surprise came from Erik Arvidsson in bib 44, who finished 11th as the second-best American. Arvidsson, returning from a knee injury last season, secured his second-best World Cup result ever. “I feel like my skiing is really coming together now,” the 29-year-old said. “I finally had some consistent time on speed skis to dial in some of the details.”
Also finishing inside the top 30 and earning FIS points from Team USA was Wiley Maple in bib 39, placing 25th — his third top-30 finish of the season. Bennett was ultimately bumped to 33rd, just outside the points. Kyle Negomir finished 40th, Jared Goldberg 42nd, and Sam Morse 48th.
Canada’s Cameron Alexander skied to a solid 14th-place finish, while James Crawford claimed 28th. Just outside the points were Brodie Seger (34th) and Jeffrey Read (38th).
Saturday’s victory extends Odermatt’s lead in the overall rankings to an untouchable 1,485 points. Lucas Braathen, in second place, has just a bit more than half of that with 798 points. Odermatt is leading the Downhill, Super-G, and Giant Slalom rankings and is—again—on track for a total of four crystal globes.
Sunday’s Super-G was ultimately canceled due to fog, cutting the weekend short after Switzerland’s commanding statement on Saturday. The men’s circuit moves on to Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, this coming weekend, where the season’s last tech events will be held.  The speed men have a brief break before a Downhill and Super-G in Courchevel, France, from March 14-15. The season ends with the World Cup finals in Lillehammer, Norway, from March 21-25.
