Marco Odermatt on Sunday claimed a record-matching fifth straight FIS Alpine Ski World Cup giant slalom victory, but his win at Alta Badia in Italy was by a more slender margin than the two-time defending overall World Cup champion is used to.
Odermatt heaved a sigh of relief as the Swiss star crossed the line with a combined time just 0.19 seconds faster than Filip Zubcic, who could only shake his head and smile wryly.
Zubcic had seemed set for a first victory in nearly three years and yelled in joy after a perfect run down the Gran Risa saw the Croatian finish more than two seconds ahead of Zan Kranjec.
Photo: AFP
However, Odermatt is almost unbeatable in his favored discipline and matched Marcel Hirscher’s and Ingemar Stenmark’s mark of five straight giant slalom victories.
The Olympic, world and World Cup champion in giant slalom had led after the first run and also laid down a strong second one to claim his 14th victory in the past 20 World Cup races in the event.
“I knew as always, I had to keep risking and really push it and I had a good run,” Odermatt said. “The snow was better than expected in the second run — it was not as bumpy as I expected.”
Photo: Reuters
“I saw it was very tight at top and then the big distance until the third place, so I knew I had to ski really well. I had a good feeling while skiing — it felt very good,” he added.
Twenty-six-year-old Odermatt, who had also won in Alta Badia for the past two years, last week won the only other giant slalom so far this season by almost one full second.
In women’s skiing, Federica Brignone dominated to win a World Cup super G and trim the gap in the overall standings to Mikaela Shiffrin, who skied out at Val d’Isere in France.
Brignone beat Kajsa Vickhoff Lie by almost half a second, finishing 0.44 ahead of the Norwegian skier, who was a surprise second to prevent an Italian one-two in the French Alps.
Thirty-three-year-old Brignone, who won a pair of giant slaloms at Tremblant, Quebec earlier this month, yelled in joy and put her head in her hands when she saw her time after crossing the line.
“I have to be honest, everything was good for me today, even in the parts that maybe I wasn’t at 100 percent immediately. I tried to get back into my rhythm and push even more, that was my strength today,” Brignone said.
It was a 24th World Cup win for Brignone, making her the most successful Italian female skier and moving her level with Gustav Thoni in second overall for her country, behind only Alberto Tomba who won 50 races.
“I don’t look at records, I look at how I’m doing today or recently. Each race is a story in itself and at the moment each race this season is fantastic in its own way,” Brignone said.
Shiffrin failed to finish after missing a turning gate on a blind section that troubled several athletes on Sunday. Olympic champion Lara Gut-Behrami also skied out.
Shiffrin, who skipped Saturday’s downhill on the Saslong course, still leads the overall World Cup standings where she is bidding for a record-tying sixth title.
However, the American skier saw her lead cut to 63 points ahead of 2020 champion Brignone, who is enjoying her best start to a season.
“I’ve certainly given myself some lovely Christmas presents,” Brignone said, laughing.
Andre de Grasse, the reigning Olympic champion in the men’s 200m, and many other top-class international athletes are to showcase their talent in Taipei at the Taiwan Athletics Open early next month, according to the event’s official Web site. The Canadian sprinter, who clocked 19.62 seconds to top the podium in Tokyo in 2021, is to compete at the Taipei Stadium after the two-day event was upgraded to a leg of the World Athletics Continental Tour. The elevated status of the Taiwan Athletics Open means participants can earn more ranking points, making it possible for the Chinese Taipei Athletics Association (CTAA), the
Novak Djokovic on Sunday described his shock third-round elimination from the Internazionali BNL d’Italia by Alejandro Tabilo as “concerning,” two days after he was hit on the head by a bottle, which he said has caused nausea and dizzy spells. Djokovic’s bid for a record-extending 41st Masters 1000 title was ended in just more than an hour by Chilean Tabilo, who is ranked 32nd in the world and claimed his first win over a top-10 opponent, 6-2, 6-3. The 24-time Grand Slam winner said that his subdued performance on a court where he has won six titles might have been due to
Caitlin Clark on Thursday walked into her new home arena with No. 22 shirts and jerseys peppered from floor to ceiling. She left as a first-time WNBA winner. A late-arriving, but louder-than-usual crowd roared during her official introduction to Fever fans and again when Clark made her first basket, a layup with 7 minutes left in the first quarter. The cheers grew when she completed a three-point play a few minutes later and hit a crescendo when she finally made a long three-pointer from the edge of the fieldhouse logo late in the third quarter. Clark successfully navigated the city’s most anticipated rookie
TO REAL MADRID? Kylian Mbappe informed PSG privately in February of his intention to depart when his contract expires, but this was the first time he acknowledged it publicly French soccer player Kylian Mbappe on Friday confirmed that he is to leave French champions Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the season, with Real Madrid widely expected to be his next destination. The announcement brings an end to a prolific association with his hometown team, which began when he signed from AS Monaco in 2017 in a deal worth 180 million euros (US$194 million). “I wanted to announce to you all that it’s my last year at Paris Saint-Germain. I will not extend and the adventure will come to an end in a few weeks,” Mbappe, 25, said in a video