Marco Odermatt completes the opening hat-trick in Beaver Creek, winning the first downhill after the giant slalom and super-G. There's a lot of praise on the team radio - Odermatt himself thinks it's "incredibly cool".
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- Marco Odermatt is currently dominating the Ski World Cup almost at will. In Beaver Creek, the man from Nidwalden wins the first downhill of the winter.
- The steep slope on the Birds of Prey is "perfect" in the 28-year-old's own words.
- The Swiss team radio is also amazed at the performance of the exceptional skier.
After his opening victories in the giant slalom (Sölden) and super-G (Copper Mountain), Marco Odermatt also triumphed in the first downhill of the winter, making an unmistakable mark right at the start of the season.
"Winning all three season openers is incredibly cool," beams the Swiss ski dominator in an interview with SRF after the race. It is also Odermatt's first downhill victory on the Birds of Prey in Beaver Creek.
"A downhill victory is already the most special thing - there haven't been that many in my career. That's why I'm very, very happy today, especially with the way I skied."
Lots of praise via radio and TV
Odermatt clinched victory with a brilliant section on the steep slope - where the man from Nidwalden beat his closest rival Cochran-Siegle by a whole 60 hundredths. Even the Swiss team radio was astonished after the hussar ride: "I've been sitting on this tree for eight years, but I've never seen anyone ski the steep slope like this," was the incredulous announcement heard on TV after the finish (see video above).
SRF expert Beat Feuz is also full of praise: "He skied exactly as you have to. Really textbook, he got everything right." No one will be able to match him today," the downhill legend says, and he is absolutely right, even though only 12 racers have crossed the finish line at this point.
After the training sessions, Odermatt felt anything but confident about this section of the course. "I really had respect for the steep slope over the last two days. You couldn't see anything and I didn't feel comfortable pushing all the way down there," reveals the 28-year-old.
But they did a good job before the race, praises Odermatt: "They did a great job on the slope today. I knew it might suffer a lot and the steep slope was really perfect. Even at the top when I was gliding, I noticed that the ski was great and the setup was perfect."
