Marco Odermatt won his third consecutive World Cup title on Saturday by winning the giant slalom for the tenth time in a row.
The 26-year-old from Switzerland has been so dominant this season that he is confident of taking home the crystal ball for taking home the most points in the standings, even though 10 of the 38 races remain on the program.
Odermatt’s victory at the Palisades Tahoe resort increased his total to 1,702 points, a whopping 1,001 ahead of Manuel Feller’s 701. Each win is worth 100 points, so there’s no way Odermatt can be caught.
Under bright sunshine and blue skies, with temperatures approaching 10 degrees Celsius, Odermatt completed two runs on Saturday in a combined time of 2 minutes and 11.69 seconds. This allowed him to finish 0.12 seconds ahead of Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen, who took his first podium finish of the season.
No other ski racer came within a second of Odermatt on Saturday. American River Radamus was 1.37 seconds back in third place for the first World Cup podium of his career.
Odermatt’s Swiss teammates Thomas Tumler, Gino Caviezel and Loic Meillard took spots 4-5-6. Feller finished eighth.
Kristoffersen was in second place after the first leg, behind Odermatt, but briefly took the lead after the second point. Then it was the reigning Olympic gold medalist and world champion’s turn as the last racer down the slope, and although Odermatt briefly fell behind Kristoffersen’s pace twice, including by 0.30 seconds at the halfway mark, Odermatt made up for it with an excellent finish.
Odermatt has won all seven GS races this season, adding to the three-event streak he ended last season with.
How dominant has it been across disciplines? Not only is Odermatt already assured of the overall crown, but he also leads the standings in giant slalom, super-G and downhill.
His 11 wins this season give him at least 10 wins in each of the last two World Cup seasons.
Radamus, from Colorado, finished fourth behind Odermatt in the giant slalom at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. With loud chants of “USA!” In support of him, Radamus was third after the first run on Saturday and temporarily moved up to first after the second run down the hill, before Kristoffersen and Odermatt surpassed his time.
Still, this was a milestone achievement.
“It took a long time,” said 26-year-old Radamus. “I’ve wanted to feel what this moment feels like for so long.”
There will be a men’s slalom at Palisades Tahoe on Sunday.