Two races, two wins, 36 years old. Dominik Paris won the downhill at the World Cup finals on Saturday in 1:45.37, 0.19 seconds ahead of Franjo von Allmen, and the super-G on Sunday in 1:26.81, 0.07 ahead of Vincent Kriechmayr. The speed races of the finals were held on the Olympiabakken at Kvitfjell; the technical races ran at Hafjell, and the FIS database files the whole week under Lillehammer.
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time / Gap — downhill, 21 March |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dominik ParisITA | ITA | 1:45.37 |
| 2 | Franjo von AllmenSUI | SUI | +0.19 |
| 3 | Vincent KriechmayrAUT | AUT | +0.60 |
| 7 | Marco OdermattSUI | SUI | +0.92 |
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time / Gap — super-G, 22 March |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dominik ParisITA | ITA | 1:26.81 |
| 2 | Vincent KriechmayrAUT | AUT | +0.07 |
| 3 | Raphael HaaserAUT | AUT | +0.38 |
| 5 | Giovanni FranzoniITA | ITA | n/a |
| 19 | Marco OdermattSUI | SUI | n/a |
Kvitfjell belongs to him
The downhill was Paris’s 20th in the World Cup. That moved him into outright second on the all-time men’s downhill list, one clear of Peter Müller; only Franz Klammer, with 25, has more. It was also his fifth Kvitfjell downhill win, a record for the hill, and his first win since two victories at the same venue a year earlier. Adding Sunday’s super-G made him the most successful men’s speed skier in Kvitfjell’s history, past Kjetil Jansrud’s seven wins there.
Sunday’s course was soft and salted, which is the hardest surface to read in a one-run discipline: the line that held for bib 5 is a rut by bib 15, and the skier who commits to it late loses the bottom section. Franzoni made a small error low down and finished fifth. Paris, asked about next season, said he would party first and think about it later. He had won his first Olympic medal, downhill bronze, in front of a home crowd five weeks earlier.
Odermatt’s two globes, won without a result
Odermatt was seventh in the downhill and 19th in the super-G and left Kvitfjell with both crystal globes. The downhill had been settled the week before at Courchevel, where he finished third behind Kriechmayr and Franzoni; that result also sealed the overall title with six races to go. It was his third straight downhill globe, by 191 points over von Allmen, and the most consistent downhill season of his career by his own description.
The super-G globe was his fourth in a row. Only Pirmin Zurbriggen and Hermann Maier have matched that. Kriechmayr finished second in the discipline, 80 points back, and said it was an honour to be in the same era. Raphael Haaser was third by one point from Franzoni; Stefan Babinsky started Sunday two points ahead of Haaser and finished 22nd.
Odermatt’s verdict was that the conditions were worse than other years, so his last race of the winter felt less satisfying. A globe, he said, is always a nice gift.
Numbers
- 20: Paris’s World Cup downhill wins, second all-time behind Klammer’s 25.
- 5: his Kvitfjell downhill wins, a venue record.
- 26: his career World Cup wins, from 54 podiums.
- 16: Odermatt’s career crystal globes after this weekend.
- 0.07: the super-G margin. Twelve of the season’s 73 races were decided by a tenth or less.
Lucas Pinheiro Braathen took the giant slalom globe at Hafjell on Tuesday and Atle Lie McGrath the slalom on Wednesday. Paris left as the oldest winner of the men’s season.