Odermatt Takes Historic Third Wengen Downhill Win

The deafening roars of ‘Odi, Odi, Odi’ said it all as Marco Odermatt (SUI/Stöckli) crossed the line in Wengen on Saturday afternoon after one of the great Downhill performances. Even among Odermatt’s already extraordinary career, becoming the first skier in the open era to claim three Audi FIS World Cup crowns in succession down the iconic Lauberhorn stands out.

Doing it in two minutes 22.58 seconds, the fastest time ever recorded, takes it to a whole other level.

Pushed to such limits by a young teammate ready to steal his crown, it was no wonder the skier lauded as ‘King Odi’ screamed, “This is my house” in the finish area as he bathed in the adulation of 40,000 fans.

It was 23-year-old Franjo von Allmen (SUI/Head) who elicited such emotions from Odermatt. Fresh from landing his first ever World Cup win in Friday’s Super G, the local youngster threw it all at the Lauberhorn and ended just 0.37 seconds behind his legendary teammate.

The first skier on the mountain, Miha Hrobat (SLO/Atomic) took full advantage of the fresh track to finish third and claim a first ever podium finish for Slovenia in the 57 years of World Cup Downhill racing in Wengen.

Austria’s big hope, the two-time Wengen winner Vincent Kriechmayr (AUT/Head) crashed heavily with the finish insight, while fellow great Dominik Paris (ITA/Nordica) was not quite able to repeat past highs, finishing fourth. A week after grabbing a first podium finish of the season, Cameron Alexander (CAN/Rossignol) leaked too much time on the bottom half to fade to fifth.

While these travails sum up a challenging Downhill season for many, the Swiss continue to fly. Odermatt’s triumph is the fifth time in-a-row that the red-and-white-clad skiers have finished top of the podium – the longest winning streak for any nation since the 2004/05 season.

The Odermatt-von Allmen one-two is also the fourth consecutive time Swiss racers have swept the top positions in the men’s Downhill.

“At the start I heard Franjo was in the lead and I couldn’t let him win again,” said Odermatt, who tops the Crystal Globe standings ahead of von Allmen, Justin Murisier (SUI/Head) and Alexis Monney (SUI/Stöckli).

“It’s crazy, it’s not just one guy, it’s the whole team who ski fast. We are pushing each other in the training and we help each other where we can and this makes us the best team in the world.”

After admitting that the cheers for von Allmen’s run had given him all the motivation he needed, Odermatt knew he needed his very best to beat his teammates. Down 0.27 seconds to von Allmen at the first split, it was the iconic Hundschopf – the thrill-inducing narrow jump at the top of the course – that kick-started Odermatt’s run.

From there the Stöckli skier flew. Lightening out of the technically demanding Kernen-S section, the Swiss man was up on the clock for the rest of the way down. But there was time for one heart-in-the-mouth moment, with Odi needing all of his renowned recovery skills to jump inside the final turn and power to the finish.

“This showed me everything is possible, with a little bit of a higher bib” said Odermatt who joins Beat Feuz (SUI) and Franz Klammer (AUT) as three-time Wengen winners. “This year it was incredible. It was superfast on the top with our bibs and this gave me the confidence to really push. I knew it was fast because the jumps went well. If you can race in front of this crowd, in these conditions, a perfect winter day like this and share another victory with a teammate, the fourth double Swiss victory in a row, this is incredible."

Despite just missing out on completing the speed double, von Allmen was in full agreement.

“I’m really happy, one more beautiful day, with a really good crowd and beautiful weather. It was perfect,” von Allmen said. "It feels like a dream, I think I will realise it after the winter or maybe in the next weeks. I saw my mum (in the finish area) and that was really beautiful to see her. She’s really happy with me. The other friends I will see after, in the after party.”

Hrobat will no doubt be in the middle of that after party. The 29-year-old came into this season without a single top-five World Cup finish in his career. But now, after matching his third place in the opening Downhill of this season in Beaver Creek, the Slovenian is expecting a whole lot more to come.

“Second podium in a season, second time third place it’s a very good result. Just those Swiss guys were a bit faster. But I know my time will come, to step on the top of the podium,” Hrobat said. "I was really relaxed. I knew that I am skiing good. I like the (bib) No.1 so my confidence was high. I pushed from the start, really good.”

Hrobat, whose previous best finish down the Lauberhorn was 26th 12 months ago, was in full agreement that Odermatt won the race with his skills in the Kernen-S section. But his eyes are already on what is to come.

“Of course it’s one week till Kitzbuhel,” Hrobat said with the grin of an in-form skier. “I will try my best, ski my best, let’s see at the end.”

All of Austria will be hoping that Kriechmayr recovers quickly. Compressed on his heels in the demanding final right-left combination – coming after more than two minutes and 15 seconds of downhill racing – the Austrian went hard backwards into the safety netting. But after a long delay, the 2019 and 2022 Wengen winner got a huge reception when skiing on one ski down to the finish.

Elsewhere, the two Canadians Alexander and James Crawford (the Head skier finished ninth) will join the likes of Paris and the USA’s Bryce Bennett (the Fischer skier was sixth) in heading to next week’s classic Hahnenkamm in good spirits.

“Sixth is good,” said Bennett. “At this point in my career I want to win this downhill so badly and I thought today was a good position but it's tough because you make one little mistake in the ‘s’ turn and it’s hard to get it back.”

The men were firing today after an unusual start to the day. The inspection was pushed back to a mere 30 minute window as winds caused massive delays at the top of what ended up being a very long day of men’s downhill. Despite the weather, the race was able to start from the top, making it the longest men’s downhill of the season.

Ryan Cochran-Siegle ran a few bibs before Bennett and was looking to capture the speed he found in training run two. Despite his best effort, Cochran-Siegle fell short in a few sections, settling for another 11th place. Bennett ran bib 14 just after Swiss phenom Marco Odermatt skied to what would be his winning run.

However Bennett gave him something to worry about. On the top half of the course Bennett was in the green up until the middle, but made one little mistake that would end up costing him more. In the end, he skied to a sixth place - a strong result for the veteran.

“Overall there are a lot of good things and good skiing in there moving forward," said Bennett. "I have not really been racing my best yet so I'm finding that rhythm still. I am building more and more confidence. There were a few times where I was not anticipating the speed to be that high but I managed it alright I thought."

Sam Morse also had great day and landed in 15th place. Jared Goldberg showed his speed coming up from bib 34 to 16th place as well. The U.S. men showed their speed, making a statement before they head to the famed Hahnenkammrennen in Kitzbuhel next weekend. They're hungry for so much more.

“It’s good but it's not enough, especially with this talent right now. I am excited to move forward to the next races,” said Bennett.