Marco Odermatt won the Wengen downhill for the third time. It’s even the fifth Swiss double of the season for men with Franjo von Allmen’s 2nd place.
Although he comes from the canton of Nidwalden, Wengen is indeed the home of Marco Odermatt. The best skier in the world has proven that no one can currently compete with him on the Lauberhorn, even when the slope is a little easier to understand.
Entering Hundschopf, the World Cup leader managed to maintain a speed above 82 km/h and just before the Kernen-S, although widened, ‘Super Marco’ carved out these legendary bends. Odi scared himself a little in the final S by attacking the door with an impressive angle. By crossing the line in 2’22’58, the Nidwalden established the new track record that Kristian Ghedina had held since 1997 (2’24”23).
‘It’s a good reaction after yesterday’s race (ed: 7th in the Super-G), explained the winner of the day at the RTS microphone. The skiing was perfect on this snow, the feeling under the feet was good, on the jumps I knew I was good going further than in training.’ Filled with confidence, Odermatt is now ready for his big goal of the season: winning on the Streif. ‘Kitzbühel is the most important race of the year for me, we’ll see but the confidence is perfect,’ confided the man who won the 43rd victory of his career, the 4th in downhill.
Franjo von Allmen’s dream weekend
-Behind the boss, we find Franjo von Allmen who had a dream weekend, 24 hours after winning his first World Cup success during the Super-G. Starting just before his leader, the Bernese had crossed the line in the lead with a 0”20 bonus over Miha Hrobat. ‘I wanted green, but I knew there were good runners behind me,’ he said with a big smile. It wasn’t easy to keep the strength in the final S, but I took the energy from the audience.’ This is the first Swiss double on the Lauberhorn.
Very good outing for Justin Murisier, 7th. But the Bagnard was not completely satisfied: ‘I was average in the passages where I was good and rather good in the passages where I had problems. And I wouldn’t have 100,000 chances in Wengen. After that interruption from Kriechmayr just before I left, it wasn’t easy. I ran out of risks in the final S.’
Stefan Rogentin took 11th place, while Alexis Monney missed the last gate.
/ATS
