Marco Odermatt completes Kranjska Gora double to clinch giant slalom World Cup crown
The reigning world and Olympic giant slalom champion took victory in Slovenia for the second time in 24 hours to secure three Crystal Globes before the World Cup Finals.
Alpine Skiing
Marco Odermatt triumphed at Kranjska Gora again to clinch the Alpine Ski World Cup giant slalom title on Sunday (12 March) with one race to spare.
The Swiss ran wide at the halfway point on his second run, but was superb from that point on and won by 0.32 from his main GS rival Henrik Kristoffersen.
The same three skiers occupied the podium as on Saturday with Alexis Pinturault taking third place.
Odermatt led Pinturault by 0.28 after the first run with Kristoffersen a further 0.19 back.
Kristoffersen produced a superb second run - the quickest of the day - to take the lead from home favourite Zan Kranjec by 1.3 seconds.
Pinturault looked on course to eclipse it, but did not ski the bottom as well as the Norwegian and finished 0.38 outside to go second with just Odermatt to ski.
Odermatt lost most of his advantage over Kristoffersen on the top part of the course, but skied the second half magnificently to take his sixth giant slalom World Cup win of the season.
Afterwards, the 25-year-old told FIS, "It's crazy. I can't really believe that. It was another hard battle today on the second run. I made my mistakes... just before the flat I thought, 'Oh, this is going to be tight.' But then I really risked it all and it all worked out."
He holds an unassailable lead of 160 points over Kristoffersen with just next Saturday's season finale in Soldeu, Andorra to come.
It completes another great season for Odermatt who has won giant slalom, Super G and overall Crystal Globes this campaign.
Results from Kranjska Gora men's World Cup giant slalom on 12 March 2023 (top 10):
- Marco Odermatt (SUI) 2:20.91
- Henrik Kristoffersen (NOR) +0.32
- Alexis Pinturault (FRA) +0.70
- Zan Kranjec (SLO) +1.62
- Lucas Braathen (NOR) +1.63
- Filippo Della Vite (ITA) +1.83
- Marco Schwarz (AUT) +1.89
- Luca de Aliprandini (ITA) +2.23
- Filip Zubcic (CRO) +2.38
- Rasmus Windingstad (NOR) +3.04
World Cup giant slalom standings after Kranjska Gora giant slalom on 12 March 2023
- Marco Odermatt (SUI) 740 pts
- Henrik Kristoffersen (NOR) 580
- Zan Kranjec (SLO) 440
World Cup overall standings after Kranjska Gora giant slalom on 12 March 2023
- Marco Odermatt (SUI) 1,826 pts
- Aleksander Aamodt Kilde (NOR) 1,240
- Henrik Kristoffersen (NOR) 1,014