After three Olympic medals without gold and the loss of his giant slalom title, the Swiss superstar reflects on his future as he prepares for another World Cup season.
Marco Odermatt has won five consecutive overall World Cup titles, four Olympic medals and more races than most competitors can dream of winning. Yet the 29-year-old Swiss champion believes his most dominant years may already be behind him.
That admission comes as Odermatt prepares to defend his overall title, recover from an interrupted preseason and confront increasingly formidable challengers.
In an exclusive interview with Olympics.com reporter Nischal Schwager-Patel, published Oct. 19, Odermatt offered an unusually candid assessment of his career and what might lie ahead.
“I feel that I have already reached my peak,” Odermatt told Olympics.com.
For an athlete who continues to dominate men’s alpine skiing, the statement raises an intriguing question: Has Odermatt reached the limits of his dominance, or can he continue redefining what sustained success looks like?
Three Olympic Medals Could Not Erase the Disappointment
Odermatt entered the Milano Cortina Olympics as the defending giant slalom champion and a leading contender across three individual disciplines.
He left Bormio with three medals but no gold.
The Swiss racer won silver in giant slalom and team combined, bronze in super-G and finished fourth in downhill.
For most athletes, those results would represent an extraordinary Olympics. For Odermatt, they produced conflicting emotions.
In the interview, he acknowledged the significance of adding three medals to his collection while admitting that failing to win gold diminished his Olympic experience.
His disappointment reflected the expectations created by years of extraordinary success.
However, the Olympics did not define his winter.
Within a month, Odermatt secured his fifth consecutive overall World Cup championship, extending a remarkable run of consistency across downhill, super-G and giant slalom.
A Rival Ends Odermatt’s Giant Slalom Reign
Despite another overall championship, Odermatt did not finish the 2025-26 season with every title he wanted.
Brazil’s Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, who defeated Odermatt for Olympic giant slalom gold, also ended his four-year reign as the World Cup giant slalom champion.
The decisive moment came March 24 at the World Cup Finals in Lillehammer, Norway.
Odermatt failed to finish the opening run, while Pinheiro Braathen won the race and secured the discipline title with 547 points. Odermatt finished second in the standings with 495.
The result provided further evidence that even the world’s most successful male racer faces serious competition.
It also adds context to Odermatt’s reflections on his future.
The Stöckli / Salomon athlete won 13 World Cup races in each of the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. Matching those exceptional performances year after year presents an enormous challenge.
But recognizing the difficulty of repeating his greatest seasons is not the same as conceding that he can no longer win.
In an interview with Olympics.com, Odermatt explained that he still believes he can remain successful for another three to five years, provided he stays healthy and continues to enjoy racing.
His motivation remains strong, even as his perspective on success evolves.
An Injury Complicates His World Cup Preparation
Odermatt’s latest challenge arrived before the first race of the new season.
A minor muscle injury in August delayed his departure for training in Chile and cost him approximately a week of valuable on-snow preparation.
According to Swiss broadcaster SRF, Odermatt reported Sept. 28 that the muscle fiber strain had largely healed, although he could still feel slight discomfort during certain movements.
He also expressed satisfaction with the training sessions he completed in Chile.
Missing time presents a particular challenge for Odermatt because he competes in downhill, super-G and giant slalom.
While specialists can devote most of their preparation to one discipline, Odermatt divides his training among three. Losing additional sessions reduces an already limited opportunity to refine the different skills each requires.
Nevertheless, his comments suggested that he remained focused on making the most of his final preparation before Sölden.
Sölden Opens the Pursuit of a Sixth Overall Title
Odermatt returns to familiar territory Sunday, Oct. 25, when the men’s World Cup season opens with giant slalom on the Rettenbach glacier in Sölden, Austria.
He has won the race three times, including last October, when he overcame difficult weather conditions to defeat Austria’s Marco Schwarz by 0.24 seconds.
Another victory would provide an encouraging start, particularly after losing the giant slalom Crystal Globe last season.
But his larger ambition extends far beyond one race.
A sixth consecutive overall title would move Odermatt another step toward Marcel Hirscher’s men’s record of eight straight championships from 2012 through 2019.
Maintaining that level of success requires more than outstanding skiing. It demands health, consistent performance across multiple disciplines and the motivation to continue preparing at the highest level.
Odermatt appears increasingly aware of those demands.
His reflections suggest that he no longer measures every season solely against the extraordinary numbers he produced at his peak. Instead, he recognizes that remaining competitive, winning races and enjoying the sport are achievements worth pursuing.
The Champion Still Has Something to Prove
Odermatt arrives at Sölden with five overall titles, four Olympic medals and the knowledge that his competitors are capable of beating him.
He also arrives with three World Cup victories on the Rettenbach glacier and another season of opportunities ahead.
His latest comments reveal an athlete who understands that the most dominant period of his career cannot last forever.
Yet there is a meaningful distinction between having reached a personal peak and no longer being capable of winning championships.
The 2026-27 season will test that distinction.
On Sunday, Odermatt begins pursuing his sixth overall Crystal Globe on the same mountain where he has repeatedly demonstrated why he remains the man everyone wants to beat.
About the Author: SR Staff Report
