Odermatt underlines legend status with Wengen downhill classic win
Jan 13, 2024·Alpine Skiing
Marco Odermatt produced two minutes and 25.64 seconds of almost perfect, utterly fearless downhill skiing to grab the iconic Lauberhorn title in Wengen on Saturday and prove there is nothing he cannot do right now.
Arms outstretched, back arched, mouth stretched in a scream of delight, Odermatt took in the adulation of 30,000 delirious Swiss fans after his stunning run, and well he might.
Once known as a giant slalom specialist, the baby-faced 26-year-old has now won twice in three days down his country’s most lauded piste.
But while Thursday’s triumph was heralded as a breakthrough – a maiden World Cup downhill win after 11 podium finishes – this performance down the full 4.2km, blue ribband Lauberhorn track takes Odermatt's speed sking to a whole other level.
Cyprien Sarrazin (FRA) is doing his best to hold on to the Swiss man’s billowing coat tails and for the third time in three days – and for the third World Cup downhill in a row – the two men occupied the top two spots.
Arguably in a league of their own right now, just 0.59 seconds separated the flying Frenchman and the Swiss star, while popular veteran Dominik Paris (ITA) was a full 1.92 seconds back in third.
It was no wonder Odermatt said, “My performance was probably one of the best ever, from my side,” before adding, “I came into the finish and I knew this would probably be hard to beat.”
He was right. After one small mistake at the top, the man who leads four of the five Audi FIS World Cup season standings, was pitch perfect. So courageous, he was only skier to take it to the max in the entrance to the famous Kernen S (a tight right bend that flows into a narrow bridge before ducking under train tracks).
It was a move that arguably won him the race, with Odermatt exiting the section almost a second up on the field. Confidence oozing out of every impeccably clean turn, the super G style mid-section offered no problems and while not the very quickest down the Hanneggschuss straight, Odermatt’s 149.22 kmph was pretty tasty.
It was no wonder Paris simply shook his head and said, “Odi is too strong”.
It was not all celebration for the man of the moment however, with his thoughts – and those of all the skiers – going out to great friend and rival Aleksander Aamodt Kilde. The Norwegian, who has been struggling with flu all week, crashed in sight of the finish line.
“Still a bittersweet day for sure when you see a friend, like Alek crashing that hard,” Odermatt said. “I hope he is a little bit well, even if it didn’t look so good. It was a very hard week for all of us, especially if you were sick like he was. Maybe the energy level was not high enough for today. To see a friend crash like this, it’s always very, very sad.”
Kilde was taken off the mountain to a nearby hospital.
Odermatt’s double fist clench when Sarrazin’s crossed the line just behind him shows the respect he has for his new rival. And while this time he finished the wrong side of the clock, the winner of Friday’s super G is loving his somewhat unaccustomed life at the top of almost every leaderboard.
“I did great mental training (in the 2023 off season) and thanks to this I am able to fight with Odi and that’s awesome,” said Sarrazin, who sits second in the downhill and third in the super G standings. “I didn’t change anything, I just found myself and I am me right now.
“I feel good even if I am really tired and my knee hurts a lot. I feel bad for Alek,” he added.
A podium place completes a fantastic three days in Wengen for the 34-year-old Paris, even if he was a little miffed to be so far off the top two.
“For me, it was OK. I feel well with what I skied but I saw the time. I was a lot behind, the distance is too much,” said the Italian who was fourth in the Wengen super G and fifth in Thursday's downhill.
“I lost a too much time in the Bruggli-S (now more commonly known as the Kernen S) again, always the same. But the rest of the course I think it was good skiing.”
Norway’s Adrian Smiseth Sejersted produced his finest ski for years to take fourth. The Norwegian defied a start bib of 24 and increasingly warm conditions to grab his best World Cup result since two super G podium finishes back in 2020.
While more accustomed to the very top of the leaderboard, former Wengen winner Vincent Kriechmayr (AUT) showed a welcome return to form with fifth. But there is no doubt who the day – and probably the night – belongs to.
