10 Golds, 4 Silvers And 3 Bronze World Cup Medals Under The Salomon Christmas Tree!

Following a very packed ten days of competitions, the World Cup Tour is finally taking a break so athletes can take a breather and spend a few days with their families over the holidays.

Starting with the speed races in St.Moritz for the women and Val Gardena for the men, it has been a busy time for the Blue team.

The highlight for the Salomon team was certainly Michelle Gisin's best result on her new blues skis – she finished 4th in the St.Moritz super G and stunned the home crowd. In the same race, Alice Robinson finished 14th, and Tamara Tippler 24th. In the two downhill races, which took place at the same resort, Gisin finished 15th and 19th, while Tippler was 13th and 22nd.

In Val Gardena, Marco Odermatt continued his impressive podium streak – he was 2nd in the first downhill, in which Nils Allegre finished in outstanding 8th position to score his career-best result in the discipline. Otmar Striedinger finished 12th in the same race on the challenging Saslong course. In the second downhill, Odermatt was a bit slower than his usual self but still made it into 7th place, while Allegre was excellent again and finished 11th, Otmar Striediger 12th, and Romed Baumann 17th.

There was no time to rest for the men, who went straight from Val Gardena into two giant slalom races in Alta Badia.

Odermatt didn't miss a beat, finished 3rd on the first day, and dominated the second race to claim his 9th podium and 4th victory in the ten races he competed in this season. The rest of the Salomon skiers put down some impressive skiing as well – Mathieu Faivre was 20th and 23rd, Victor Muffat Jeanded is definitely fully back from his injury and skied into 15th and 22nd , Luca De Aliprandini was 18th, Roland Leitinger 20th and Adam Zampa 27th both days.

"This was probably the biggest fight ever," Marco Odermatt said after the victory, which capped off a long week in the Italian Dolomites where he skied four races in five days, reaching the podium three times. "I was so, so tired already at the start, and it didn't get better while skiing."

Next up for him: "Five days at home, that's much needed after long weeks already in North America, straight to Val d'Isère, Val Gardena, Alta Badia," he said.

On the Ski Cross scene, there was only one name at the top of the podium all season long – Sandra Naeslund is dominating the competition and has won 5 World Cup races in a row. She has been undefeated since December 2021! She is the queen of the sport and seems to be just getting started!

Overall, this first part of the World Cup season was successful for the Salomon team, bringing home the following medal tally.

Odermatt 🥇🥇🥇🥇🥈🥈🥈🥉🥉

Sandra Naeslund 🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇

Marta Bassino 🥈🥇

Still, we won't have to wait long for more action as it will be picking up again on the 27th of December. On the calendar for the women, there are two giant slalom races scheduled in Semmering, Austria, while a downhill and super G are planned in Bormio, Italy, for the men. Those will also be the last races of 2021.

As everyone enjoys a few festive days and turns their attention to celebrating with families and friends, we wish you all happy and healthy holidays, from our Salomon Blue Family to yours.