Alpine skiing
Odermatt continues to expand the giant slalom super series
Also won the giant slalom in Aspen: Marco Odermatt. photo
© John Locher/AP/dpa
The Swiss star is unstoppable in the giant slalom. In Aspen he continues his super series – now he’s not far away from a historical record.
Odermatt is only missing three successes to catch up with the historical record of 14 wins in a row set by Swede Ingemar Stenmark. In addition, the Swiss also achieved an early triumph in the discipline World Cup – the 26-year-old had already secured the overall World Cup last week.
Odermatt made it unusually exciting and won by just 0.14 seconds ahead of his compatriot Loic Meillard. Atle Lie McGrath from Norway came third, 0.81 seconds behind. “Today was perhaps the most difficult race of the season,” said Odermatt after his success at over 2,000 meters above sea level in the American Rocky Mountains. In addition to the overall and giant slalom World Cup, Odermatt can also win the discipline classifications in downhill and super-G this winter.
Straßer 25th, Grammel in 26th place
The German racing drivers played no role in the fight for the top places. Linus Straßer came in 25th (+3.62 seconds), although the giant slalom was primarily a test run for the slalom on Sunday for the Munich native – he is one of the favorites there. Anton Grammel (+4.70) was one place behind. Alexander Schmid, the best German giant slalom skier, was eliminated in the first run.
Another giant slalom is scheduled for Saturday (6 p.m. CET) in the US luxury ski resort.