Lauberhorn descent: Odermatt wins ahead of von Allmen

There are martial scenes that take place in the finish area in Wengen. Then Franjo von Allmen chokes his colleague Marco Odermatt, who sticks out his tongue with a suffering look. Then the same thing happens in reverse roles.

Later, Odermatt hits a block of ice with a pick with full force for several minutes, as if he had to release his anger somewhere.

The pictures actually don’t match what just happened on this wonderful Swiss ski day. Odermatt in front of von Allmen, that’s the result after the 95th Lauberhorn descent. The two of them are in such a good mood afterwards that they fool around with each other for a picture that the Swiss-Ski media manager takes. The atmosphere between the two is not tense, it is fantastic.

The background to the pickle is that this year in the Bernese Oberland they want to let the fastest athlete continue to work even after his ride. They have frozen the victory trophy and Odermatt has to free it from the thick layer before he can lift it up. The Nidwalden resident may be able to get over the fact that he punches a few holes in the tin jug, which is then presented to him at the award ceremony in the evening.

After his two triumphs last year, he won the home race for the third time and, at the age of 27, is already catching up with Franz Bracke and Beat Feuz, the record winners in Wengen’s World Cup history. Odermatt said this week that such top values ​​wouldn’t mean too much to him; it would be more important to him to set another points record.

In the finish area in Wengen he now says: “To have won three times is very nice and special – that’s also the story with Beat. I learned so much from him, he showed me the sport of downhill skiing. And now it’s me passing on my know-how to the young people, which is great.” It is this attitude that says so much about this Swiss downhill team, which is currently going from success to success, winning what there is to win.

Von Allmen floats like a dream over the slopes

Von Allmen, that’s one of those boys Odermatt was talking about. The Bernese turned 23 last summer. He drives like he’s ten years older. It is always said how important experience is in the speed disciplines; success should only be possible with maturity. Von Allmen is dismantling the common opinion in an impressive way. Second in the downhill runs in Val Gardena and Bormio, winner in the Super-G on Friday, second in the downhill run on Saturday. He floats almost like a somnambulist over the World Cup teams, who are actually not all that familiar to him.

At the foot of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau, in front of a record crowd of 40,000 spectators, it makes the Swiss anniversary perfect. The crazy result this winter is this: the fourth Swiss double victory in a series in a row. This has never happened before in the 58-year history of the World Cup. Not with any nation. “Every year I think that it can’t get any better – but apparently it is possible,” says Walter Reusser, CEO Sport at Swiss-Ski, as the sun shines on his face at the finish.

Justin Murisier also comes seventh and Lars Rösti eighth, with starting number 37, when such times actually no longer seem possible: There are more great stories for the Swiss association, which has done everything in recent years to increase the breadth in the squads to increase. Nowhere can the effects be seen as impressively as in this speed team, in which cohesion is not an act but is lived. Team leader Odermatt played a crucial role in this. Reusser says it like this: “Not only can the others take their cues from him, he also helps them and doesn’t let the boys fall into the trap.”

Odermatt himself runs away from Pirmin Zurbriggen

This culture began with Feuz, who resigned in Wengen two years ago and shared his knowledge with Odermatt. It had such an effect that last year the man from Nidwalden was not only the best in the giant slalom and super-G, but also in the speed sprints. He is once again leading in all three disciplines this winter and will hardly have any opponents in the overall World Cup if he stays healthy. He is already 292 points ahead of his first pursuer Henrik Kristoffersen. With his 43rd World Cup victory, Odermatt is increasingly ahead of Pirmin Zurbriggen, who held the national record with 40 victories before this season.

The triumph in Wengen is a particularly emotional one for Odermatt; you can see it right after his ride, at the finish, where he clenches his fists and screams several times into the clear sky. And as he crosses his skis over his chest, he screams into the camera: “This is my house!”

He shows an impressive reaction to his disappointing 7th place in the Super-G the day before. The good thing about it was: The top 6 of a race have to complete the program, which ends with the award ceremony in the World Cup village of Wengen at 7 p.m. For once, Odermatt had time to relax and choose different material. “We missed out on Friday,” says the three-time overall World Cup winner, who once again drew the right conclusions with his team.

Von Allmen, on the other hand, went through the strenuous procedure for the first time on Friday. He put it away – of course – as if he were a veteran. He tried to absorb the energy, he says after his next prank. Reusser says: “I asked him if he was able to sleep at all.” Von Allmen’s answer: “Great!”

The word symbolizes how easily everything is done at the moment: at von Allmen; near Odermatt; with the entire Swiss downhill team, which is organizing the next huge ski festival in Wengen.

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