Marco Odermatt had to wait a long time to celebrate the first success of his career on the Saslong. As often happens in Val Gardena, the weather conditions change quickly and the track gets faster and faster. Thus, the Slovenian Martin Cater, who started with bib 42, took 5th place in the downhill on Saturday. The Austrian Stefan Eichberger, who started in 56th position, set the 6th fastest time. Already on Friday, the Bernese Lars Rösti, 48th in the starting gate, was ranked 8th in the super-G, while the American Jared Goldberg obtained the first podium of his career thanks to his bib 26.
“We see that it’s very tight,” analyzed “Odi” at the SRF microphone during the race. We have to get out of Ciaslat a lot in advance.” The Nidwalden, even if he declared having achieved an “almost perfect descent”, knew that his time of 2'03''10 could still be beaten. Nearly two hours after the first departure, he was still not calm. The 27-year-old athlete had to wait for the 64 competitors to pass to celebrate his 40th World Cup victory and equal Pirmin Zurbriggen.
Relieved, Odermatt was then able to express his joy, still on the SRF microphone. “It means a lot to me,” explained the champion. Winning at Val Gardena from the original start was at the top of my list. I’m delighted.” And added: “Last year, I narrowly missed victory on a shortened course. Today, with the Ciaslat, it was a perfect race.”
The three-time winner of the big crystal globe triumphs for the third time in the premier event, after his two successes at the Lauberhorn last January. “I don’t think I could have done better. I felt like it was perfect. I achieved without doubt one of the best descents of my career,” commented Marco Odermatt. With this third success of the winter, in three different disciplines, the skier from Buochs, who takes the lead overall, shows that he is gaining momentum. Enough to forget his disappointments during the first two winter giants, where he was eliminated.
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