'In a different league': Odermatt wins seventh straight giant slalom race

New year, same Marco Odermatt (SUI).

The Swiss star opened 2024 with another dominating performance on Saturday, cruising to victory by over a second on home snow in Adelboden for his seventh consecutive World Cup giant slalom victory.

In a shortened race due to fog, Odermatt led by more than a second after the first run and held serve in the second run to win by 1.26 seconds over his speed rival Aleksander Aamodt Kilde (NOR), who finished second for his first World Cup giant slalom podium.

Filip Zubcic (CRO, third) and River Radamus (USA, fourth) put up big second-run charges to move up nine and 16 spots, respectively, but they were too far behind after the first run to seriously challenge Odermatt.

In remaining undefeated on giant slalom skis this season, the local favourite lapped up the support from the adoring fans who serenaded him with 'Odi' chants and roared when he came into view at the top of Adelboden's famous zielhang pitch.

"It's amazing," said Odermatt, who won his 18th World Cup giant slalom race to equal the absent Alexis Pinturault (FRA) in fifth spot on the men's all-time list.

"It was obviously not an easy, nice race today, difficult conditions," Odermatt said of competing in fog at the top of the course.

"I just tried to push and enjoy the crowd. Unbelievable, mystical atmosphere here with the snow, with the fog. And then coming into the finish with the crowd like this, it's wonderful."

Perhaps even more mystical than the Adelboden atmosphere is the stretch of giant slalom dominance that the Olympic and world champion is enjoying at the moment and which has rarely been seen in the sport's history.

Odermatt's run of seven straight victories trails only Ingemar Stenmark's (SWE) streak of 14 straight from 1978-80, while his form line in his past 21 World Cup giant slalom races says it all: 21 podiums, 16 wins.

His dominance has reached such a level that after his scintillating first run on Saturday, he shrugged his shoulders in virtual embarrassment at his own greatness, recalling basketball legend Michael Jordan's famous shrug in the 1992 NBA Finals.

In the second run, Odermatt skied within himself, while still recording the second-fastest time, to ensure he would comfortably claim his third consecutive triumph on the Chuenisbärgli course.

His biggest rival on the downhill and super-G slopes, Norwegian star Kilde, used his power and strength on the zielhang to finish a surprising second in what he termed an "incredible" result.

The defending World Cup downhill champion skied into third place with bib No. 16 in the first run, and was third-fastest again in the second run behind Radamus and Odermatt to move up a spot at the expense of Stefan Brennsteiner (AUT).

"Being in this position (after the first run), I just wanted to take the opportunity and I felt like I did that," said Kilde, who came into the race having recorded three of his previous four top-5 giant slalom finishes in Adelboden.

"I knew that the visibility was really bad but I like the snow and I just thought to myself, 'Now I've really got to move the whole way down.' At the bottom (of the pitch) I just said to myself, 'I can't see anything anyway, so why not go for it?'

"Of course Odermatt is in a different league but this is definitely a victory for me."

The only skier to be anywhere near Odermatt's league on a regular basis in giant slalom this season, Zubcic, seemed out of contention on Saturday after he managed only 12th place in the first run.

But the Croatian took advantage of an earlier starting position in the second run to take the lead from Radamus and hold on to reach the podium for the third time in five giant slalom races this season.

"First run I didn't feel good, some stupid mistakes and I was slow," Zubcic admitted. "But I recovered in the second run, it was enough for the podium."

Zubcic pushed Radamus into fourth by 0.12 seconds, but it was an impressive challenge nevertheless from the American, who was 20th after the first run but skied faster than even Odermatt in the second run to give himself a chance at what would have been his first World Cup podium.

It was the opposite story for Brennsteiner, who skied into second position after the first run but was the slowest skier in the field in the second run, finishing 19th overall.

The prospect of trying to dethrone Odermatt in his own backyard ultimately proved too much for the Austrian, allowing the Swiss ace to savour an extra special victory.

"Always at home here in Adelboden, a victory feels super sweet," Odermatt said.

Click here for full results from Saturday's race.