Marco Odermatt starts the Olympic season in Sölden on Sunday. The signs are good for another dominant winter for the man from Nidwalden. His focus continues to shift towards the downhill.
26.10.2025, 07:00
SDA
He rested for "two or three weeks" after last season - without traveling, at home on Lake Lucerne with family and friends. "Just wind down" is what Marco Odermatt calls it. The most successful ski racer of our time then resumed training. And soon it was back to the detail work.
The training diligence shows: At the age of 28, Odermatt sees himself as far from having reached the end of his development. Even at the peak of ski racing, his hunger is still great - as his extension with Stöckli skis until 2030 shows. "Last season, I traveled to Switzerland from the World Cup final with four crystal globes. It would be absurd not to talk about winning," he says, without appearing arrogant.
He talks about detailed work, because the Nidwalden native already has the physical and technical foundations in place. "I think I've reached my peak as an all-rounder, I can't get any better," says Odermatt himself. In downhill, on the other hand, he still sees room for improvement even after the progress he has made in recent years: "There is certainly still potential for more in speed."
The crux of the matter: when Odermatt turns the speed screw, another one loosens. "As an all-rounder, you walk a fine line. To improve in one specific area, I have to make sacrifices in another. Because I've become stronger in the flat sections of the downhill, I've lost something in the giant slalom," says Odermatt, about whom a biography ("Marco Odermatt - My World") will soon be published and who is one of the main characters in the recently released film documentary "Downhill Skiers".
Stenmark, Zurbriggen and the last gaps in the palmarès
45 World Cup victories, three World Championship titles, Olympic gold and four large crystal globes for winning the overall World Cup now adorn Odermatt's palmarès. As with Marcel Hirscher or Roger Federer a few years ago, the question is increasingly being asked as to what continues to drive him.
Investing more in the downhill is obvious for several reasons. On the one hand, experience in the downhill carries a lot of weight and it is the natural course of time that speed, which is more relevant for the giant slalom, diminishes with age. "There is a slight tendency towards speed in the future," says Odermatt.
On the other hand, the last notable gaps in his palmarès are in the downhill. Odermatt won the super-G in Kitzbühel in the previous season, but has yet to win the downhill. Although he won gold in the giant slalom at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, he has never made it onto the podium in the speed disciplines. "The Kitzbühel downhill is certainly one of the big goals. Winning the super-G is a small tick in the box, but the downhill on the Streif is definitely still a career goal," he says.
Records can also be a driving force. Because in terms of these, Odermatt does not yet see himself on a par with the all-time best. When asked by the FIS about the eternal top ten in ski racing, Odermatt puts himself in fifth place after his tenth full season in the World Cup. Ahead of him: Ingemar Stenmark (86 World Cup victories), Pirmin Zurbriggen, who has won five fewer World Cup races than Odermatt, but has won them across all disciplines, as well as Hermann Maier (54 World Cup victories) and Marcel Hirscher (8 overall World Cup victories).
Preparation made to measure
It is likely that Odermatt will climb further up the all-time rankings in the Olympic winter. He is still in top shape and without any significant physical wear and tear. He has been preparing for the season since the beginning of May. And compared to other years, Odermatt and the Swiss athletes have mostly had excellent conditions in the snow training sessions, whether in Valais, the Engadine or South America. Among other things, the speed skiers were able to train on the Theodul Glacier again after the dispute between the FIS and the Zermatt mountain railroads was settled - with Swiss-Ski as the slope operator and corresponding advantages over the international competition.
The Swiss also had advantages in terms of preparations for the technical disciplines. The training area on the Diavolezza is the biggest Swiss bonus with regard to Sölden, said Helmut Krug, the men's giant slalom national coach, two weeks ago in "Blick". He was certain that at this time of year no other nation would find such outstanding conditions as the Swiss had found in the Engadine.
Odermatt is relaxed about the fact that a new rule prohibits the use of his carbon plates on the mock legs due to the increased risk of injury in the tried and tested style: "It's not a big issue. A lot has been written about it. Now we've found a good solution."
Odermatt explains that he wears the plate mainly because of an inflammation of the tibial plateau, which he has been suffering from for several years. The solution to be able to continue doing this is surprisingly simple. However, it can also be seen as a dodge to circumvent the safety regulations: The shin guard is now integrated directly into the shoe. Under this premise, the use of additional elements is also permitted under the new regulations.
So what remains to be hoped for this season is that Odermatt remains uninjured. The rest will follow.
