Setback in the bullet race: Marco Odermatt only finishes fifth in the giant slalom in Kranjska Gora. Winner Lucas Braathen shortens the gap - the decision will not be made until the final.
As the leader of the first run, Lucas Pinheiro Braathen held his nerve. The 25-year-old skied confidently to his seventh World Cup victory - his third in a giant slalom. The Olympic champion relegated Loïc Meillard to second place by 54 hundredths. They were two very different runs, says Meillard in the SRF interview: "I attacked, even if there were a few mistakes," he concludes.
Marco Odermatt, on the other hand, clearly missed out on the podium, losing almost a second to Norwegian-born Braathen after the first run. In the end, it was fifth place for the man from Nidwalden. "I wanted to go all out to make it onto the podium," he says. "I tried everything, but in the end there were a few mistakes," summarizes Odermatt.
The 2023 World Champion says that he was then caught out a little each time and had to push hard, which of course cost him speed. He didn't want to take any pointless risks, he just didn't "get into his skiing like that today", says the discipline leader.
Final battle in Lillehammer "new situation"
In the battle for the small crystal globe in the giant slalom, his lead over Braathen has now melted to 48 points. "It was the worst-case scenario, but anything is still possible," says Odermatt. Normally he would have had the ball in his court before the last race, but now it's just "a new situation".
The decision in the battle for the discipline ranking in the giant slalom will therefore not be made until the final in Lillehammer in two and a half weeks' time. Meillard (89 points behind Odermatt) still has a chance, at least in theory.
