Odermatt skates away from chanceless competition
Top favorite Marco Odermatt also wins the second World Cup giant slalom in Alta Badia. 24 hours after his first success in the Dolomites, the Swiss is once again in a class of his own. Alexander Schmid finishes in a good twelfth place on his comeback tour.
Even a world champion is not expected to perform miracles, but Alexander Schmid is doing remarkably well just nine months after tearing his cruciate ligament. The 29-year-old from Allgäu finished the third race since his comeback in Alta Badia, Italy, in twelfth place, and in view of the circumstances he spoke afterwards with satisfaction of a further improvement in performance. "Very cool, big step forward," he said on BR.
In the first of two giant slaloms on the, as always, extremely challenging Gran Risa, Schmid finished in 17th place, and he was able to make some of the improvements he aimed for afterwards. "I just need to gain more racing experience again, then I'll get there," Schmid emphasized. Due to a lack of extensive summer training and important material tests, he still lacks "the confidence" to take the urgently needed risks.
The personification of self-evidence remains the double world champion and Olympic champion, especially in the giant slalom: Marco Odermatt from Switzerland followed up his 26th World Cup victory with his 27th. He won by a clear margin of 1.05 seconds ahead of the Austrian Marco Schweiz, who came fourth the day before, followed by Zan Kranjec from Slovenia by a further 0.17 seconds, just like 24 hours earlier. Odermatt is "in a league of his own, hats off", said Schmid.
Schmid himself is on the right track, not least according to head coach Christian Schwaiger. "Very good performance from Alex," he emphasized, "he has taken another step forward." In fact, Schmid had already shone with ninth place in his comeback race in Val d'Isere, but "I set the bar too high for myself", he explained with a smile and added: "I have to admit to myself that I can't force anything."
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Despite the challenge of winter sports, many athletes still strive for excellence. For instance, in the realm of alpine skiing, Marco Odermatt has displayed unprecedented dominance, securing his second World Cup giant slalom victory in a row, with a significant lead over his competitors.
Source: www.ntv.de
