Swiss Skier Meillard Wins Last GS Of Season As Odermatt Misses 45-year-old Record – News18

SAALBACH-HINTERGLEMM, Austria: Marco Odermatt failed to finish an ideal large slalom season Saturday on the World Cup finals, the place the Swiss star skied out within the second run whereas holding a commanding lead over eventual winner Loic Meillard.

Odermatt had received every of the earlier 12 large slaloms since February 2023, together with 9 this season. With one other victory, he would have matched the file set by Swedish nice Ingemar Stenmark, who received all 10 large slaloms within the 1978-79 season.

“A little disappointed about this result, about this perfect season which isn’t perfect now,” Odermatt stated.

After dominating the primary run, he initially prolonged his lead over Meillard to 0.67 seconds however then misplaced stability on his inside ski after 20 seconds and did not make the following gate.

Showing his crystal globe — the standard prize in Alpine snowboarding — to spectators within the end space, Odermatt smiled and kissed the trophy, however seemed upset.

“Of course, there are a lot of negative emotions now. We are all athletes who want to win. If you want to win, you have to take risks and then mistakes can happen,” stated Odermatt, who’s the Olympic and world champion in large slalom and locked up the GS season title and his third straight total championship weeks in the past.

Odermatt known as it “an unnecessary mistake” which “can happen after 30 races.”

“I felt the last two days that I got a bit nervous,” he stated after the primary run.

The course was affected by in a single day rain and organizers tried to harden the floor by sprinkling salt on it simply earlier than the race.

“It was difficult conditions, also for the organizers,” Odermatt stated.

Getting his second win of the season and fourth total, Meillard completed 0.71 seconds forward of Joan Verdu of Andorra, who earned his second profession podium. Meillard’s Swiss teammate Thomas Tumler was 0.79 behind in third for his first prime-three lead to greater than 4 years.

The outcome additionally made Odermatt wait to turn into the primary male skier with 14 wins throughout disciplines in a single season, with two probabilities left to take action at subsequent week’s tremendous-G and downhill, the place he’s a robust favourite so as to add each disciplines titles.

The total file for many wins in a season is held by Mikaela Shiffrin, who received 17 instances in 2018-19.

The race was the primary occasion of the standard World Cup finals, which options one race in every self-discipline for each women and men. The first weekend is reserved for the tech races, with the lads’s slalom scheduled for Sunday.

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More AP snowboarding: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing

(This story has not been edited by News18 employees and is revealed from a syndicated information company feed – Associated Press)