Marco Odermatt is one of the biggest favorites heading into the men’s World Cup season opener in Sölden, Austria, on October 27, after winning his third consecutive World Cup overall title in 2024 and the giant slalom, super-G, and downhill discipline globes. According to recent reports, he is stronger than ever. Here is a peek into the Swiss top skier’s pre-season preparations.

The day after the women open the 2024/25 World Cup tour on October 26 on the demanding Rettenbach glacier course, Odermatt will fight for this season’s first men’s giant slalom victory in the mountains high above Sölden.

Odermatt, representing Ski Club Hergiswil, will compete against exciting contenders like returning star Lucas Braathen (Brazil), giant slalom specialists Filip Zubčić (Croatia), and Žan Kranjec (Slovenia), last season’s slalom globe winner Manuel Feller (Austria), Norwegians Henrik Kristoffersen, Timon Haugan and Atle Lie McGrath, Swiss teammates Loïc Meillard, Gino Caviezel and Thomas Tumler, among others. Hopefully, the start list will include Marcel Hirscher, skiing for the Netherlands.

Multi-discipline racers Marco Schwarz, Austria, and Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, Norway, are not competing due to injuries.

Swiss Overall Dominance?

During an early-October press conference, Odermatt pointed to Meillard as his strongest competitor for the upcoming season’s World Cup overall globe. Meillard finished second in the 2024 Overall Cup and the Giant Slalom Discipline Cup.

Odermatt and Meillard are three-discipline racers. Both compete in giant slalom and super-G. Odermatt is also a strong downhill racer, and Meillard makes his mark in the slalom discipline.

What preparations does Odermatt bring into this season to defend his titles?

New Physical Conditioning Trainer

Odermatt lost his previous physical trainer, Austrian Kurt Kothbauer, in March. They had worked together since 2016, and Kothbauer helped build Odermatt’s muscular physique. After their long and successful partnership, Kothbauer chose to move on and is now the physical trainer for Odermatt’s competitor, Braathen.

Following this, the Swiss teammates Odermatt, Murisier and Caviezel began working with Alejo Hervas. Hervas is a prominent physical trainer within the World Cup circuit.

Previously, Hervas worked with another Swiss superstar until March 2024, namely two-time World Cup overall winner (2016 and 2024) Lara Gut-Behrami, who also won the 2024 giant slalom and super-G discipline globes.

The switch was noticed. When Gut-Behrami heard rumors that Hervas planned a change after the season, the successful veteran skier sent Hervas home during the World Cup Finals.

“The basis of trust between Lara and Alejo no longer exists. That led to the separation,” SwissSki Alpine Director Hans Flatscher told the Swiss broadcaster SRF afterward.

The Process

According to a Blick.ch interview during Odermatt and Murisier’s first spring workout with Hervas, the Swiss men had discussed working with Hervas in cooperation with Gut-Behrami. Murisier, who was on the lookout for a new physical trainer last spring, told Blick.ch:

“I’ve had great contact with Alejo over the last few years. We met and thought: Why not work with Lara if she continues to race?” Then, as Kothbauer moved on, Odermatt and Caviezel also needed a physical trainer.

When asked about the situation during the Blick.ch interview, Odermatt said nobody likes to lose a significant person from their surroundings. He continued: “On the other hand, we can say from our side that we behaved correctly. We initially thought about working together (with Lara).” However, the situation developed differently, Odermatt explained.

Stronger Than Ever

Odermatt told Blick.ch that he will always bring with him the knowledge gained from his previous coach, Kothbauer, and that he is relatively relaxed regarding his long-time physical trainer moving on:

“If you feel that you need a change for yourself or the athlete, you respect that.”

Now, Odermatt is physically stronger than ever after a summer of training with Hervas.

According to the most recent strength and endurance tests, Odermatt has improved his results by 3% since last summer (2023), Blick.ch reported on September 29.

“Kurti Kothbauer has laid a fantastic foundation for Marco in the areas of strength and conditioning in recent years. With new inputs, Alejo is getting even more out of Odi,” the giant slalom head coach for SwissSki, Helmut Krug, said, according to Blick.ch.

Wanting a Specific Victory

Making Odermatt a better skier than before might seem like a difficult task. The 27-year-old has won almost everything in alpine skiing: 37 World Cup victories, an Olympic gold medal in giant slalom, two World Championship golds in downhill and giant slalom, and five World Junior Championship gold medals.

With 71 World Cup podiums in 149 starts, he has a podium rate of almost 50%.

However, one victory is missing, which drives Odermatt’s primary goal for this season: winning the Kitzbühel downhill!

Winning the Kitzbühel downhill!

He barely missed the top of the podium in 2024 when he placed second and third in the two Kitzbühel World Cup downhills. You might have seen Odermatt’s great excitement when crossing the finish line with a 2.22-second lead in the Kitzbühel downhill on Saturday, January 20, only to be crushed by the next racer, Cyprien Sarrazin. The Frenchman executed an astonishing run, beating Odermatt by 0.91 seconds and capturing the victory.

After last season’s many accidents among men’s and women’s World Cup skiers, speed event racers and FIS Chief Race Director Markus Waldner demanded change. The result: During the 2024/25 season, there will be only one downhill race per weekend, and the emphasis will return to the classic downhill competition at locations like Kitzbühel and Wengen.

So, in 2025, Odermatt will be focused on Saturday, January 25, the date for the challenging race down Kitzbühel’s “die Streif” and the chance to achieve his great goal: winning what is considered the most significant downhill victory of all.

Great Ski Training Conditions

To win, you must prepare, including getting the necessary time on snow.

After the World Cup season ended last spring, Odermatt spent time skiing in Kvitfjell, Norway. Then, in April, he enjoyed visiting his home ski area, the Titlis Bergbahnen, to inaugurate a ski trail receiving Odermatt’s name, the “Marco-Odermatt-Piste Rotegg.” The ski area named the high-mountain ski run after Odermatt to honor him and his outstanding results during the 2023/24 season. Odermatt trained and raced in the Titlis ski area as a young boy, and he clearly enjoyed skiing down the demanding hill after it received his name.

Later in the summer, it was time to strap on the ski training gear once again.

However, after FIS removed the Zermatt/Cervinia World Cup downhills from the 2024/25 calendar, Zermatt Bergbahnen decided to exclude elite ski teams from gate training during the 2024 summer season.

Without their often-used summer training grounds above Zermatt, SwissSki had to look elsewhere. According to media reports, during their pre-season preparations, Odermatt and his teammates enjoyed good ski training conditions in Saas-Fee, Switzerland, Ushuaia, Argentina, and Diavolezza, Switzerland.

Odermatt tells Ski Racing Media that he feels prepared for the season: “We’ve been to South America before and we know Saas-Fee and Diavolezza from previous years, too. We were able to pretty much follow our training schedule.”

Recent Shock

However, situations can change quickly. Shortly after their return from South America, and only weeks before the World Cup opening races, Niels Hintermann and the Swiss team received the shocking news that Hintermann has cancer. Luckily, doctors believe the cancer can be treated and that Hintermann will be able to return to ski racing in the future.

After the news, Odermatt told Blick.ch: “I had a lot of fun with Niels at the beginning of last week when we posed together at a photo shoot for a (SwissSki) association sponsor—we laughed a lot together. That’s why the news of his illness comes as a complete surprise to me; it’s a real shock. And at this moment, I realize once again that it’s ridiculous to complain about a twinge in my back compared to such a diagnosis.”

Hectic October

During a hectic week in early October, Odermatt and teammates spent time promoting sponsors during SwissSki activities, met with the press, and attended the Zurich Film Festival.

The launch of the Descente Marco Odermatt ski clothing collection also took place at the start of October. Descente and Odermatt collaborate in designing ski clothes that are aimed at appealing to a younger generation of skiers. This year’s collection includes an orange ski jacket and matching ski pants. Coincidentally, orange is also the traditional color for Dutch national sports teams’ uniforms.

During the Odermatt collection launch party, the Swiss ski star laughingly refuted that the orange refers to returning eight-time World Cup overall winner Hirscher, now competing for the Netherlands. “The choice of color was made long before Hirscher announced his comeback,” Odermatt explained, according to Kleinreport.ch.

Time for Skiing

Finally, Odermatt and the Swiss team could return to skiing with the promotional work out of the way—the October preparations leading into the Sölden opener have mainly taken place in Switzerland. Then they head to the hectic and exciting atmosphere on the Rettenbach glacier and in the streets of Sölden, where thousands of fans prepare to start the party while Odermatt and his competitors focus on their tasks on and off the snow.

The media and ski fans eagerly debate whether Hirscher and Braathen will beat Odermatt when they return to World Cup racing under new flags. Meanwhile, Kleinreport.ch reported in early October that Odermatt remains focused on the main task ahead:

“I have to beat everyone at the start—regardless of whether they are racing for Austria, Norway, the Netherlands or Brazil.”

Sources: SwissSki, Blick, Klein Report, Laola1, Descente, Zurich Film Festival, SRF, Eurosport, NBC Sports, Snow Industry News, FIS, Marco Odermatt’s social media, and Justin Murisier’s social media.