He arrived with the goal of winning the downhill in Kitzbühel. In the end, Marco Odermatt was seven hundredths short of triumph. The man from Nidwalden is correspondingly dejected after the race.
24.01.2026, 15:34
SDA
He buries his face in his elbows, leans on his poles and takes a deep breath. Once again no victory in the downhill in Kitzbühel, once again second place - as in 2022 and 2024. But Odermatt has never been as close as this time to winning the golden chamois, one of his last big goals.
Odermatt manages the passage from the local mountain to the finish perfectly. He makes up time on the leading Italian Giovanni Franzoni, but the finish line comes too early. The Swiss skier is 0.07 seconds short of victory. While 45,000 fans roar around Odermatt, the 28-year-old becomes very quiet. He keeps to himself for minutes in the finish area. He analyzes his run on a monitor, shaking his head again and again. The disappointment of the best skier of the moment is palpable. Even the numerous pats on the back from teammates, staff members and competitors can't change that. Here and there he struggles to give a pained smile. No words are needed.
A "brilliant ride" that wasn't enough to win
Marco Odermatt hasn't been as disappointed as he was in these moments for a long time. On the one hand, of course, because he made it to the top of the podium in 53 of his 191 World Cup races and had no reason to be upset. But even when he missed out on the top three (in 91 races), he usually took it in his stride. But a 2nd place in the most legendary of all downhill races is not good enough for someone who became world champion in 2023 and has been awarded the small crystal globe for the most consistent downhill skier in the world for the past two years.
"Today feels like a defeat," he says after taking a conspicuously long time to get in front of the reporters' microphones. "I know that it was a brilliant ride on my part. But I also know what my goal was today and that I unfortunately fell just short of it."
A déjà vu
Once again someone else is celebrating after the Hahnenkamm downhill, once again it's an upstart. Just like two years ago, when Frenchman Cyprien Sarrazin rocketed to the top of the world rankings out of nowhere and won both downhill races on the Streif. A déjà vu for Odermatt. One of the most bitter kind.
For Franzoni, it was his second victory at the highest level, his first in the downhill, after he climbed to the top of the podium for the first time in the World Cup a week ago in the super-G in Wengen. Only time will tell whether he will grow up to be able to stand up to Odermatt in the speed disciplines in the long term. In Kitzbühel, he gave the big favorite a run for his money and bagged the victory that seemed destined for Odermatt. It should be noted, however, that Franzoni did not steal the victory, after all, he indicated with the best time in both training sessions during the week that he will be a force to be reckoned with on Saturday.
A milestone
None of this changes the emotional state of Odermatt, for whom the sting is still deep even more than an hour after crossing the finish line: "It will take longer to come to terms with it," he says, who is known for being able to tick things off quickly. He had a lot of focus on this race. "I felt ready, I came here in great shape, my equipment, body and mind were in perfect shape. That's why it hurts."
It almost became a side note that Odermatt broke the magic mark of 100 podium places in the World Cup in Kitzbühel. Only four other racers have managed this before him: Ingemar Stenmark (155), Marcel Hirscher (138), Marc Girardelli and Henrik Kristoffersen (100 each).
It was little consolation for Odermatt. "Many would have liked me to win. On the other hand, I also understand everyone who says it's good that it didn't work out now. I've already celebrated so many successes, so I almost feel a bit stupid when I'm disappointed with a 2nd place."
A good omen
Now he is heading home with two gold medals in his luggage. With a gold, which he won on Friday in the super-G thanks to the better finish in the hundredths thriller against Franjo von Allmen, and with a silver in the downhill - already the third in this color.
Next year, Odermatt will make another attempt in the hunt for the golden chamois in the downhill; it will be his tenth. Incidentally, his former mentor Beat Feuz needed eleven attempts to take the crown in Kitzbühel.
