Marco Odermatt wins the season opener in Sölden for the first time

Extremely tight racing at the top of the table today with only 0.10 splitting the top three, but ultimately it was the Swiss skier, Marco Odermatt who won the season opener in Sölden. This marks his third World Cup giant alalom win and fifth if you include the super-G.

Previously, only three other Swiss male skiers have won the GS World Cup in Sölden; Locher, Albrecht and Cuche. Last season Odermatt came second in the GS World Cup standings, so surely today’s win is the beginning of his push towards the GS Crystal Globe. “I want to take it race by race, but for sure the globes are there, and the they’re the big goal for the season. When you come second last season, you want to be better, and with a start like this, it has given me a lot of confidence for the next races. We’ll see if we can stay there until the final week.

Finishing only 0.07 seconds behind Odermatt, Roland Leitinger (AUT), was extremely close to clinching his first World Cup victory. After finishing the first run with the quickest time, Leitinger was put in a situation completely new to him. It was the very first time that he was leading a GS World Cup, and there would be no where better to do it than at a home resort.

After having a bit of a rollercoaster year last year, today, Zan Kranjec (SLO) pushed hard to claim third place. “I’m really happy that I showed good skiing today and I think I can be more confident about the season this year. I feel much better than last year so it’s really good to start the season like this.”

Last year’s winner, Lucas Braathen (NOR), was back in full spirits today. In January 2021, he incurred a season-ending injury, however, he seems back on track to put down some fast times this season. During the second run, he claimed and managed to hold onto first place for a significant amount of time.

The French duo, Alexis Pintaurault and Mathieu Faivre, raced hard in both rounds, but it didn’t seem like today was their day. Pintaurault finished fifth, after finishing sixth in his first round, whereas Faivre, had a slight upset in his second round after finishing second in the first round, only 0.19 seconds behind Leitinger (AUT). The season is young, so we look forward to seeing what the GS World Champion and GS Crystal Globe winner have in store for us this year.

One of the many sensations at the World Cup opener was America’s snow leopard, River Radamus. Having achieved his career best result by placing 6th. You couldn’t miss him, on or off the course.

Athletes will be taking a short break after the opening round of the World, and then race in Lech-Zürs (AUT) on the 14th of November 2021.