Odermatt Wins In Bormio,
Odermatt continued his brilliant super-G form. On a brutally fast and tricky Bormio piste, Marco Odermatt (SUI) laid down a masterclass of super-G skiing to go into 2023 at the top of the Audi FIS World Cup standings.
It was a curious day for the sport, as Austrian great Matthias Mayer announced his retirement during the morning’s snow inspection.
But 25-year-old Odermatt showed that the future was in fine hands, continuing his epic duel with Norway’s Aleksander Aamodt Kilde. It was Odermatt who prevailed, living dangerously on a steep, icy track that made each turn a challenge. He clattered gates but somehow stayed in control to set a scorching time of 1:29:27. It seemed like nobody might come even within a second of him.
Kilde – who started the day joint top of the super-G standings with Odermatt – risked everything in his attempt. The Norwegian made some fine turns on the steep top section, but made two huge errors towards the end as he tried to eke out further time.He almost fell twice, and nearly missed a late gate, which was enough to leave him well down the field in 8th.Nobody could match Odermatt on the day, but Vincent Kriechmayr (AUT) came closest. After winning the downhill in Bormio yesterday, his brilliant form continued with a powerful run, finishing +0.64 behind. Loic Meillard (SUI) finished third with a smooth run but was still a huge +1.22 in deficit of the leader.
“It was a perfect run, nearly, especially from split one to the finish,” said Odermatt. “It was a very difficult race, icy, a difficult course, you had to ski smart I guess, and use a little bit tactics, but it worked out for me.
“I had the feeling it was fast, but that I was one step ahead. Yesterday I was always one step behind, and that makes it so much easier.”
After not racing yesterday, Matthias Mayer had decided to retire on Thursday morning. “I was thinking I could stop and this was a good point for it, I don’t need an exact reason,” he said.
“I am very happy about my career and the last years. I did not start yesterday and it’s a good point to quit.”
Kriechmayr said it had been an odd experience for his team. “I tried my best but it was not the easiest day for us. Matthias was our leader and he helped the younger guys and all of us a lot, so it was not easy,” he said.
“Marco is the best. He is a fantastic skier. You need to be 100 per cent to beat him because he is an amazing skier. He keeps going to the end and it is really tough for us to beat this guy. People had a lot of problems on the last part of the run, but he was amazing.”
Meillard (SUI) came third with a smooth run but was still a huge +1.22 in deficit of the leader. The technical finish suited him. “It’s amazing, I knew I could ski fast in a super-G,” he said. “I was always skiing well here in Bormio, so to stand on a podium here is amazing.
“The turns were nice. I didn’t do a downhill [yesterday], so maybe I had a bit more legs to push.”
Kilde was diplomatic about his run. “It was a tough one, trying to get the skis to grip,” he said. “I tried my best but it is small margins in this sport. Odermatt is in his own world today. It’s so icy, if you lose your grip you have no chance. But a new chance will come.”
Four U.S. Alpine Team athletes finished in the top 30 in the Bormio super-G on Thursday. Ryan Cochran-Siegle led the way with a 13th-place finish among the strong men's field.
“Today was another challenging day, surprisingly icy considering most of the course was set outside of the downhill track,” commented Cochran-Siegle. “It’s been a difficult start to the super-G season, so in a way getting a top 15 is a little bit of a win. I also recognize I am more capable than that, so it’s important to not get complacent.”
In addition to Cochran-Siegle’s performance, Erik Arvidsson raced to another strong result in 21st place, with teammate Kyle Negomir close behind in 24th and Jared Goldberg in 29th.
“I felt like I had some mistakes today and wasn’t able to execute the way I wanted to but it was still good to see that I can not be very proud of my skiing and still be in the points,” said Negomir. “Super happy with the skiing today we knew it would be possible to throw it in there because the snow was good," said Arvidsson.
U.S. Alpine Team athlete Travis Ganong finished in 40th and River Radamus and Bryce Bennett did not finish. Regardless, the men’s speed team was very excited to see a strong performance by their teammates coming from the back.
“It was so much fun to see Erik ski to his potential this weekend, I'm so proud to see how much work he’s put into getting here and have it start to pay off. Looking forward to carrying this momentum with our young group of men for the rest of the season,” said Negomir.
