The Swiss podium series in the giant slalom is broken in Copper Mountain. With Marco Odermatt out of the race, Thomas Tumler, Loïc Meillard and Luca Aerni finished 9th, 18th and 19th respectively.
Austrian Stefan Brennsteiner, who was already ahead after the first run, celebrated his first World Cup victory at the age of 34. Henrik Kristoffersen and Filip Zubcic completed the podium with a gap of around one second. Austrian all-rounder Marco Schwarz finished fourth, two hundredths of a second off the podium in his second giant slalom of the winter.
While Marco Odermatt was eliminated in the first run after setting the best intermediate times, Thomas Tumler was in 3rd place at the halfway point. The man from Graubünden, who has already proven several times that the special conditions in North America suit him, lost six places in the decision. In the first giant slalom in Copper Mountain for 49 years, the Swiss podium streak in the basic discipline, which has lasted since October 2024, was broken.
Loïc Meillard continues to search for his Olympic form. The slalom world champion and World Championship bronze medallist in the giant slalom was in seventh place at the halfway point, but dropped out of the top 15 in the second run. Luca Aerni, the third Swiss in the second run, finished in 19th place in the final standings directly behind the man from Neuchâtel.
Odermatt drops out with best intermediate time
Marco Odermatt's own podium series in the giant slalom came to an end after four victories and two second and third places each. The dominator, who had been struggling with the flu in recent days, got off to a formidable start 24 hours after his victory in the super-G and was around four tenths ahead of the rest after the second of four split times in the first run before he slipped on the inside ski in a right-hand turn and landed in the snow.
"A classic inside ski mistake, typical for this snow here. Too bad, that never really happens to me in training," said Odermatt in the SRF interview. In view of the additional recovery time for the upcoming races in Beaver Creek next week, his anger was limited. Odermatt did not sustain any injuries.
Odermatt will continue his training on Sunday for next Friday's Beaver Creek downhill. A super-G and a giant slalom will follow on the weekend of December 6/7 at the second World Cup stop of the Olympic winter in the Rocky Mountains.
The final ranking
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