Odermatt continues super-G dominance with victory in year-ending World Cup ski race

BORMIO, Italy — Even Marco Odermatt isn't afraid to say he is nearly unbeatable in super-G.

The Swiss skier extended his dominance in the discipline in impressive style Friday, winning the last men's World Cup race of 2023 by a huge margin.

The two-time overall champion used his supreme technique to navigate his way down the demanding Stelvio course as he beat runner-up Raphael Haaser of Austria by 0.98 seconds.

“Right now, if everything works and I show my best skiing, it’s probably hard to beat me,” Odermatt said. “But every race starts on a new day and everything has to fit together otherwise you cannot ski like this.”

It was Odermatt’s 10th win and 17th podium result from his last 20 super-G starts. He also won the year-ending race in Italy last year.

“Another perfect super-G for me, nearly like last year, also a great performance. I had a good plan in my mind and skied smart where I had to and pushed where I wanted to," he said.

Odermatt had the third best time in the opening section, but was by far the fastest on all other parts of the course, including a flawless last section where he gained even more time on his competitors.

“The last pitch was fun to ski. I had a very tight line and still managed to press it down somehow and took a lot of speed into the last flat,” said Odermatt, who has 28 World Cup wins overall. “On the most difficult courses you need a lot of self-confidence. You should not overdo it and stay focused, but when it all goes so well, also with the equipment and I have grip when I need it, then it’s a big help.”

Aleksander Aamodt Kilde was 1.31 behind in third. The Norwegian has become Odermatt’s main challenger for the overall title since Austrian skier Marco Schwarz suffered a season-ending knee injury in Thursday’s downhill.

Odermatt leads Kilde by 396 points in the season rankings. A race win is worth 100 points.

“It shows us one again how small the path is between winning and losing or even getting injured,” Odermatt said about Schwarz's mishap. “Very sad to lose him for this year in the battle (for the overall title) and as well for all ski fans.”

Vincent Kriechmayr posted the fastest time in the opening section but the Austrian world champion from 2021 lacked speed in the turning middle parts of the course and finished 1.45 behind in fourth.

Cyprien Sarrazin, who won Thursday’s downhill, was among the fastest starters in the super-G but the Frenchman missed a gate early in his run.

World super-G champion James Crawford finished 2.19 seconds behind Odermatt.

The race was interrupted after Christof Innerhofer crashed into the safety netting. The Italian veteran, the world super-G champion from 2011, initially stood up but was then taken off the hill by helicopter.

The Italian ski team said Innerhofer sustained a cut on his calf but avoided other injuries.

After a series of eight races in Italy, the men's World Cup next travels to Switzerland for a giant slalom and a slalom in Adelboden on Jan. 6-7.

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