Another Back To Back Win For Kristoffersen

The last race before heading into the finals, the second GS in Kranjska Gora (SLO) was the last chance for athletes to gain enough cup points to qualify themselves. Having already claimed the GS small globe after his 2nd place finish yesterday’, Marco Odermatt (SUI) was still chasing his fifth GS victory of the season, however, he wasn’t able to claim it today. 

Having secured victory in Saturday’s race, Kristoffersen was looking to make it a memorable double and was well placed to do so after sitting third following his first run. Kristoffersen’s double came just two weeks after he also won two slaloms in two days in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany

The Norwegian then laid down an exceptional second run to claim victory with a combined time of 2:18.13, finishing 0.23s ahead of Austrian Stefan Brennsteiner.

Kristoffersen, 27, said: “A very good weekend, for sure. We’re skiing really good. It doesn’t matter if it’s straight, turny, or whatever it is, it’s a pretty good day.”

Odermatt, who locked up the discipline title by finishing second in Saturday’s race, was fastest in the opening run but dropped to third, 0.27 behind Kristoffersen. Third place for Odermatt saw the Swiss star extend his FIS World Cup overall lead to 329 points from Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, who now has just a mathematical chance of regaining the title he won in 2020.

Finishing his first run in 3rd place, 0.30 seconds behind the leader, Henrik Kristoffersen (NOR), completed a near-perfect second run to claim the victory with a 0.23-second lead. Having won yesterday’s and today’s GS races, Kristoffersen has had two back-to-back victories this season after having also won both slaloms in Garmisch-Partenkirchen (GER).

Stefan Brennsteiner (AUT) finished in 2nd place to claim his first World Cup podium of the season and his best GS World Cup result. Having finished 5th in yesterday’s race, and sitting in 5th after his first run today, Brennsteiner was looking confident during his second run with pace. Finishing his run 0.17 seconds ahead of Lucas Braathen (NOR), to take 1st place, Brennsteiner was shortly then beaten by Kristoffersen. Exactly one year ago, the Austrian had finished 3rd in the GS race in Kranjska, which was his second World Cup podium.

After placing 1st in his first run, Odermatt, seemed as if he was going to claim yet another GS victory this season. Even though finishing 1st after his first run with a 0.22-second lead, the Swiss skier didn’t manage to hold his edges in his second run. Skiing with less ease and fluidity, Odermatt placed 3rd, 0.27-seconds behind Kristoffersen. Nonetheless, out of the seven GS races so far this season, he has placed on every single one of them, which include four victories.