0.01, then 0.24. Marco Odermatt won the men’s season-opening giant slalom in Sölden on Sunday in 1:56.03, 0.24 seconds ahead of Marco Schwarz. Atle Lie McGrath was third, 0.03 behind Schwarz. It was Odermatt’s 46th World Cup win and his 27th in giant slalom.
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time / Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marco OdermattSUI | SUI | 1:56.03 |
| 2 | Marco SchwarzAUT | AUT | +0.24 |
| 3 | Atle Lie McGrathNOR | NOR | +0.27 |
| 6 | Raphael HaaserAUT | AUT | n/a |
| 18 | Alexis PinturaultFRA | FRA | +1.64 |
| 21 | River RadamusUSA | USA | +1.89 |
A short course and an hour’s wait
Wind on the upper glacier forced a lower start, so the top runs came in under a minute and racers topped out around 75 km/h. Snowfall picked up between runs. The second run was pushed back twice and started an hour late, with course workers clearing fresh snow off the line and low cloud flattening the light.
A short, soft, snowing Rettenbach rewards the skier who commits early and does not try to steer. Odermatt said he knew he liked conditions in which he had to fight. He led the first run by a hundredth from Schwarz, with Stefan Brennsteiner third, and came out of the second run with ten times that margin.
Schwarz, 22 months on
Schwarz tore a cruciate ligament in the Bormio downhill in December 2023 while leading the overall standings, and later had a herniated disc. Sölden was his first World Cup podium in nearly two years. He said he had been under a lot of pressure, including from himself.
Out and missing
- Lucas Pinheiro Braathen slipped and skied out halfway down the first run. He said he had misjudged the balance between intensity and precision.
- Alexander Steen Olsen, last year’s winner here, did not start: a persistent knee problem.
- Alexis Pinturault was 18th in his first race since January.
- Radamus was the only American into the second run.
Odermatt called it the perfect start to a season. It was: he won eight more races before the end of February and finished the winter with a fifth consecutive overall globe.