Industry News
Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt won his first-ever Downhill World Cup race at the famous Lauberhorn race in Wengen, Switzerland. Having debuted in 1930, the Lauberhorn race is the oldest ski race in the world and with 4.48km (2.8 miles) the longest Downhill World Cup course in the world. The 26-year-old had finished in second place a total of eight times until today, January 11, 2024, when he crowned himself the King of the Lauberhorn.
Downhill is often times considered the “King’s Discipline” amongst the Alpine races and thus far had eluded the young Swiss ski racer. Odermatt was beaten in the last two years by Norway’s Aleksander Aamodt Kilde on the Lauberhorn course. However, today, the Swiss lead the field and won the race by 0.58 seconds ahead of France’s Cyprien Sarrazin, who had won in Bormio, Italy, two weeks ago, and 0.81 seconds ahead of arch-rival Kilde.
Team USA’s Ryan Cochran-Siegle, son of Olympic gold-medallist Barbara Cochran, finished in sixth place 1.23 seconds behind Odermatt, while Bryce Bennett finished in 16th place. Bennett had started with coveted bib no. 2 today, having made the list of top skiers who benefit from the bib lottery for the top starting spots. The course in Wengen is one of his favorite courses and the American finished 1.69 seconds behind Odermatt. Sam Morse also managed to collect a FIS point by finishing in 30th place, while Kyle Negomir and Wiley Maple finished outside the top 30 in 46th and 55th place respectively.
- Related: Bryce Bennett from Team USA Wins the Men’s Downhill FIS World Cup at Val Gardena/Gröden, Italy
Jared Goldberg and River Radamus, unfortunately, recorded a DNF. Goldberg in bib no. 19 had put down a fantastic training run the previous day, finishing in second place behind Kilde yesterday, however, slid out towards the end of the run, causing him to miss the gate. His teammate Radamus slid out in the exact same sharp left turn at the bottom of the race course. The frustration was obvious for both men, but the Americans will have a chance to redeem themselves over the next two days in another Downhill and a Super-G event.
