Industry News
The final event of the FIS Alpine World Cup circuit, the Downhill, scheduled for Sunday, March 24, had to be canceled after several delays. The much-anticipated showdown between Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt and France’s Cyprien Sarazin, who were only 42 points apart in the standings, could not take place. Unfortunately despite several delays, inclement weather made a competition impossible. The local organization committee worked hard to clear the snowfall off the race course but ultimately the combination of wind and snow just made ski racing unsafe for athletes and the event was canceled.
The Downhill Crystal Globe was awarded to Marco Odermatt with 552 points, second on the Downhill standings was Cyprien Sarrazin with 510 points, and third was Italy’s Dominik Paris with 342 points.
Odermatt adds the Downhill Crystal Globe to his Giant Slalom Crystal Globe and Super-G Crystal Globe and is also the winner of the Overall Big Crystal Globe. A feat not seen in men’s Alpine skiing since 2000/01, when Austria’s Herman Maier claimed four globes in a single season. The only other male skiers in this exclusive club are Pirmin Zurbriggen who claimed four globes in the 1986/87 season and Jean-Claude Killy, who achieved the same in the 1966/67 season.
It is Odermatt’s first Downhill globe, last season the Downhill title went to Norway’s Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, who also claimed the globe in the 21/22 season. Unfortunately, Kilde was injured at the Lauberhorn Downhill in Wengen, Switzerland in January this year.
