Industry News
The weather Gods were kind this weekend in Aspen Snowmass, Colorado, for the two Giant Slalom races of the FIS World Cup circuit on March 11 and 12. The Giant Slalom races are part of three tech events at the glamorous Colorado resort, with a Slalom race to follow on Sunday, March 13. Both Giant Slalom events were won by Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt, marking his 11th and 12th consecutive Giant Slalom victory respectively. With this incredible feat, Odermatt not only secured the season’s Giant Slalom and Overall Season Crystal Globe, but the 26-year-old Swiss skier is also now the person with the second most consecutive Giant Slalom victories, just two victories away from tying with legendary retired ski racer Ingemar Stenmark from Sweden.
Giant Slalom — Friday, March 11
On Friday, Odermatt had been dominant from the get-go, skiing into the lead on his first run ahead of Norway’s Alexander Steen Olsen by 0.12 seconds, and his own teammate Loic Meillard by 0.19 seconds. Qualified for run 2 from Team USA was River Radamus in 16th place. Australia’s Louis Muhlen Schulte snuck into the top 30 that qualify for run 2 in 28th place, while USA’s Patrick Kenney missed out in 37th place. Finishing run 1 with a dreaded DNF was a total of 24 ski racers, which included USA’s Tommy Ford, George Steffey, Isaiah Nelson, and Brian McLaughlin, as well as the likes of Manuel Feller from Austria.
Run 2 is conducted in reverse order, meaning the fastest skiers from run 1 go last. Atle Lie McGrath from Norway was sitting in the leader’s seat in the finish area, having skied into the lead from seventh place in run 1, watching the top three with rising anticipation. With the three fastest skiers left to go, odds were not in his favor. Switzerland’s Loic Meillard as third last put down a smashing run and skied to his first Giant Slalom podium of the season, snatching the lead by 0.67 seconds from the Norwegian. The course had been set by his coach, which may have worked in his favor. Next up was McGrath’s teammate Steen Olsen, who had 0.07 seconds lead on Meillard. The Norwegian fell behind early on in the race and could not pick up the speed on the icy top section, finishing a whole second behind Meillard.
Last to go was Odermatt, who effortlessly mastered the top section, extending his lead on Meillard. A small mistake on the mid-section cost him some time, putting him behind his teammate. Odermatt is known for his strong finish and once again the Swiss shot across the finish line, squeezing out a 0.14 second lead on his teammate and claiming his 11th consecutive Giant Slalom victory and 36th career victory.
River Radamus as the 15th starter of run 2 put down the fourth fastest second run of the day — tied with Loic Meillard — moving him up the ranks to finish in what was ultimately 11th place. Australia’s Louis Muhlen Schulte skied into 27th place, earning his first career FIS points and the first Giant Slalom FIS points for Australia in 39 years.
Giant Slalom — Saturday, March 12
On Saturday, Odermatt extended his run of consecutive Giant Slalom victories, claiming his 12th win, moving him ahead of Annemarie Moser-Pröll, who had achieved a run of 11 consecutive wins. This leaves only Ingemar Stenmark to beat, who has 14 consecutive wins to his name. While Odermatt was set to be able to tie this season with Stenmark, the opportunity was taken away later this week when FIS announced that the Giant Slalom races that were scheduled for next weekend at Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, would have to be canceled due to a lack of snow.
After run 1, Odermatt was in third place behind his teammate Loic Meillard and Norway’s Alexander Steen Olsen but the Swiss put down an aggressive second run where the Swiss pushed as hard as possible, which saw Odermatt on the top section flying around one gate on just one ski. Despite this mistake, the Swiss skied to his 37th career victory.
Second place on Saturday went to Odermatt’s teammate Loic Meillard, who had just the day before claimed his first-ever World Cup podium and now claimed his second podium. Third place went to a different Norwegian on Saturday, namely Timon Haugan. Steen Olsen as last was looking strong and it looked like the Norwegian would claim his first-ever Giant Slalom win. But the Norwegian skier unfortunately skidded out on the bottom section of the course. This mistake cost him several seconds and relegated him to 17th overall. His teammate Haugan had finished run 1 in fifth place and had put down the third fastest run 2 of the day, catapulting him onto the podium.
“I really don’t know what to say anymore, it’s crazy! I know the mistake happened in the steep part so I knew, ‘Come on, it’s still possible,’ but I got so low as well in the flat. I didn’t really expect that it will be enough with this mistake but I also knew that it was perfect in the second half of the run. Incredible that it really works every time, I don’t know why.”
— Marco Odermatt
With now 1,902 points for the 23/24 season, Odermatt is only missing 140 points to break his own record from last season. With the World Cup finals left to go, the 26-year-old skier could still beat his record 2,042 points.
“People don’t really understand what he’s actually doing. At the moment, he’s on a different planet. He can make mistakes, he can do everything he wants, but he still goes fast and that’s what’s crazy.”
— Loic Meillard
American Tommy Ford finished in 16th place after a fast second run — in fact, the third fastest second run, tying him with Timon Haugan for that feat. River Radamus came away with a 22nd place, while Isaiah Nelson, who had qualified for run 2 in 30th place, tied with Radamus, recorded a DNF on run 2.
