Odermatt wins Cortina super-G on return from injury

CORTINA D AMPEZZO,ITALY,28.JAN.23 – Marco Odermatt. Photo: GEPA pictures

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — Ten days before the start of the world championships, Swiss skier Marco Odermatt won a men’s Saturday World Cup super-G in a triumphant return from his injury layoff

The snow conditions were perfect and the course was demanding. The high speeds and demanding turns over challenging terrain produced three who did not finish among the first five to ski. Switzerland’s Loic Meillard and Austria’s Daniel Hemetsberger both missed the same gate after a small blind jump followed by a side hill traverse. However, radio reports made it to the start and racers began to meet the challenge. Cortina reminds fans that super-G, when set challenging, is perhaps the most difficult event.

This race marked the return of Marco Odermatt

Odermatt had strained his knee during the first downhill in Kitzbühel and sat out the two following racing opportunities. During his super-G run, he had some concerns about his knee and was unsure about his performance. However, he knew all was good when he saw the green light in the finish. He had clearly lost nothing but World Cup points during the injury recovery.

It was Odermatt’s third super-G win of the season, while Kilde has won the other two.

“It’s maybe my most special win,” Odermatt said. “When I went back on snow two, three days ago, it felt like I had been away for a long time. The trust in my body, in my knee, was gone. Now I’m a bit speechless.”

When Odermatt left the start, Aleksander Aamodt Kilde was in the finish with a great run and a (-0.41) lead over Austrian star Vincent Kriechmayr. However, Odermatt immediately appeared confident and strong. He took a slight lead at the beginning but by the bottom, there was no doubt he was the best of the day. Odermatt skied as well as he ever has. Not only is he still plenty strong, but he was also able to efficiently execute his line with excellent skiing.

“The adrenaline at the start was worth gold,” said Odermatt, who used a bag of ice to treat his knee after his run.

One of those who ignited the fans in the stands was Kilde. Kilde is skiing with unmatched power. He sets the edge and rides the arc with commitment. Kilde had recently been making gains on the Odermatt overall lead and he is fantastic. However, today his physical strength and skiing skills were not enough. Today Odermatt will gain 20 points in both the overall and the super-G standings.

The big excitement for the Italian fans came from bib 19, Mattia Casse. Casse used great skiing in his first three sectors to garner the leaders’ attention. He finished the race in third place but only his struggles in the fourth sector prevented him from being second. Today is Casse’s third podium of the season but his first in super-G. No matter what, it is excellent to see home-country athletes succeed.

Combing the perfect conditions and the arrival of direct sun, an advantage materialized for the later start numbers. Those skiing well with a good game plan benefitted from the opportunity.

Notably, the Austrian team had four athletes in the top 10, fourth through sixth. Bib 43, Lukas Feurstein came from the highest start number to finish sixth. The best North American of the day skied immediately after Feurstein. Canada’s Jeffrey Read, bib 44, used highly committed skiing and improving visibility to cross into seventh place, earning his career’s first World Cup top-ten super-G result.

The North Americans ended the day with five inside the top 30. Joining Read are Canadians James Crawford 15th and Brodie Seger in 18th. The best-ranked USA athlete of the day was Olympic medalist Ryan Cochran-Siegle. He finished the race 20th (+1.48) behind Odermatt.

It wasn’t RCS’s best result, but he found the positives. “It’s a fun track to ski, it’s unique. I think that’s kind of cool,” said RCS. “I definitely didn’t ski with a whole lot of speed, so I’m sure that the top guys probably had a lot more fun.”

Bib 59, River Radamus joined the group of scoring North Americans in 27th place. Unfortunately, Kitzbühel podium athlete USA’s Travis Ganong has been fighting illness and could not start.

Significantly 12 skiers with bibs above 30 scored in today’s super-G. German athlete bib 60, Dominik Schwaiger, was the last to do so.

Another super-G is scheduled for Sunday, the last men’s World Cup speed race before the Feb. 6-19 world championships in France.

Analysis of the fastest three, top 30 North Americans and top 30 results

Top 39 results Cortina d’Ampezzo January 28th super-G

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This is a developing story, stay tuned for updates.