Marco Odermatt to chase more records after wrapping up third straight overall crystal globe
The Swiss superstar bagged his 10th consecutive giant slalom victory in Palisades Tahoe, United States, on Saturday (25 February) for an unassailable lead in the overall World Cup standings with 10 races left in the season.
Alpine Skiing
Marco Odermatt confirmed his status as one of the Alpine Skiing greats, securing a third consecutive FIS World Cup overall title with 10 races left of the 2023/24 season.
The Swiss superstar wrapped up the overall crystal globe courtesy of a 10th consecutive World Cup win in the giant slalom in Palisades Tahoe, United States, on Saturday (25 February).
Odermatt, who won the final three giant slalom races of last season, extended his winning streak by securing all seven races of the technical event this season becoming one of only three skiers to win 10 races on the trot in a single discipline. Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark won 14 consecutive giant slalom races, while Annemarie Moser-Proell of Austria won 11 straight downhill races.
The two-time Olympic champion has been a dominant force this season, leading the standings in three of the four alpine skiing disciplines – downhill, giant slalom and Super G. He does not compete in the slalom.
The 26-year-old Odermatt added another feather to his cap this season, winning his first-ever downhill World Cup race in his 36th attempt in Wengen, Switzerland, in January.
The reigning Olympic and world champion claimed his ninth consecutive giant slalom victory and his 10th race win of the season in Bulgaria. Odermatt finally shed his reputation as a nearly man in the downhill event after finishing runner-up in the speed event on eight occasions.
Winning gold in both the downhill and the giant slalom at last year’s world championships, Odermatt highlighted his status as the complete package, straddling technical and speed events with equal prowess.
Odermatt demonstrated in Pallisades Tahoe that he had the ability to win even the tightest of races. He beat Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen by just 0.12 seconds, with River Radamus of the United States finishing third.
The Swiss skier leads Austria’s Manuel Feller by an unassailable 1,001 points on the overall World Cup standings.
"At the moment, everything is just perfect," Odermatt told the FIS, summing up his season.
Odermatt joins an elite group as the fifth man to clinch three consecutive overall titles, following in the footsteps of Italian Gustav Thoni, Stenmark, American Phil Mahre, and Austrian Marcel Hirscher.
He could surpass the men’s overall margin of victory record, currently at 743 points set by Maier in 2001. Additionally, the overall margin of victory record for both men and women, set at 1,313 points by Tina Maze in 2013, remains within reach.
The Swiss, currently standing at 1,702 points in the overall standings, is also on track to better his own record (for a man) of 2,042 points accumulated in a single season.