Odermatt Back On Top In Crans Super G

Marco Odermatt, who is celebrating his 45th World Cup victory and eighth of the season, triumphed in the 2027 World Cup venue with a lead of 0.28 seconds over his teammate Monney. Dominik Paris followed in third place (0.39 behind). For the Italian, it is the first podium finish this winter.

Thanks to his 15th World Cup victory in the Super-G, the third this season after Beaver Creek and Kitzbühel, Odermatt is getting closer to winning his first crystal globe this season. With only two races left to go, the Nidwaldner leads the discipline rankings by 181 points ahead of Mattia Casse. The Italian is Odermatt's only remaining competitor, having also won the Super-G World Cup in the previous two years. The next Super-G will take place on March 9 in Kvitfjell in Norway.

The Swiss superstar crushed the Super G on home snow in Crans Montana on Sunday, returning to the form that has seen him dominate the sport in the last three seasons like few before him.

Odermatt separated himself from an otherwise tightly-bunched field with a superb run all the way down the course to triumph ahead of Alexis Monney (SUI/Stöckli, +0.28s) and Dominik Paris (ITA/Nordica, +0.39s).

"I had a perfect run from the middle to the bottom," Odermatt said, before joking about the fact that Switzerland could only manage to put two men on the podium on Sunday after a clean sweep in Saturday's Downhill.

"It seems like our plan didn't work today," he quipped, before turning serious. "It's crazy, we are living in a dream. It's not stopping and I hope we can continue like this."

After a world championships in which he won the Super G but lost his Downhill and Giant Slalom crowns, and a day after he was beaten in Downhill by Franjo von Allmen (SUI/Head), Odermatt was back to his best on Sunday.

He was the last of the top seeds to make his challenge with bib No.15, and took control of the race during the GS-style turns on the middle flat section where several others before him had made line errors.

Odermatt had a nervous moment when he almost lost control with the finish line in sight, but he used his supreme recovery skills to get back on track and top provisional leader Paris by nearly four-tenths of a second.

"It was a very, very good run," Odermatt said. "We were very lucky today with the light around my starting position so this helped me to see the track a little bit better and really push."

As he continues his relentless climb up historical leaderboards with his 45th World Cup victory — sixth on the men's all-time list — Odermatt reached some more milestones on Sunday.

In addition to becoming the third man with 15 World Cup Super G victories, he is also the fifth man to win 15 or more races in two disciplines, and the first to do so in Super G and Giant Slalom.

Although the story of the men's season has been phenomenal Swiss results across the board and new stars emerging to challenge Odermatt's dominance, the 27-year-old has still won eight races and leads the standings for each of the four Crystal Globes that he is defending from last season.

"They are pushing a lot, sometimes too much — but no, it's great," Odermatt said. "It's always like this, those battles the last years with Aleks (Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, NOR/Atomic), and now with my teammates."

Of Odermatt's teammates who have taken the World Cup speed tour by storm this season, only Monney was near his best on Sunday as he finished runner-up at the resort that will host the 2027 World Championships.

The 25-year-old, who had never made a World Cup podium as recently as last Christmas, now has five, including two in 24 hours after finishing third as part of the Swiss clean sweep in Saturday's Downhill.

On Sunday, Monney was second-fastest behind Odermatt on the flats with bib No.19, and although he lost time on the final sector, he did enough to hang on to second place and push Raphael Haaser (AUT/Fischer) off the podium into fourth.

"It was a really good run, solid from top to bottom," Monney said, despite being concerned that the mountain did not suit him.

"I wasn't sure (if his run was good enough) because it's an easy slope and I'm not the best one on easy slopes," he admitted..

Less than a year out from a home Olympic Winter Games on his beloved Stelvio piste in Bormio, the veteran reached his first podium of the season to show he still has plenty left in the tank.

The Downhill specialist held his own on the more technical sections, and used his trademark speed and power to take the lead with bib No.13, potentially on track for his first win since December 2023.

And while Odermatt bested or equaled him in four of the five timed sectors of the course to end Paris' dreams of that long-awaited victory, it was still an unexpected step forward for the Nordica star.

"I'm a bit surprised about my run and about the result," Paris admitted. "It didn't feel that good, but in the end, a very good day."

Just as Paris will use his podium as a springboard for the rest of the year, Odermatt is not going to slow down in the final few weeks of the season, either, as he leads the Downhill, Super G, Giant Slalom and Overall standings.

"It's not done yet," the Swiss star cautioned. "Still many goals to achieve with the Globes."