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Marco Odermatt found moments of clarity on a foggy day in the Italian Dolomites to race to victory in a World Cup downhill on Thursday.
A 50th career World Cup win for the Swiss generational talent came 50 days before the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina Olympics where Odermatt shapes to be a star.
“It’s a crazy number,” Odermatt said. “I had an incredible season start with a fifth victory already. But I’m not a guy who looks too far ahead.”
Odermatt rode the bumps and rolls on a shortened version of the Saslong course in Val Gardena to finish in one minute 24.48 seconds, 15-100ths faster than teammate Franjo von Allmen, the reigning world champion. Italian veteran Dominik Paris was third in 1:24.67.
Sunshine lit the bottom half of the course where Odermatt, wearing bib No. 14, was decisively fast to win a race that started 75 minutes late because of fog shrouding the top of the course.
There was a short delay for fog minutes after No. 6 starter Von Allmen set the fastest time and touched 129 kilometres per hour, then a longer stoppage once the top-ranked racers completed their runs.
Odermatt acknowledged seeing his Swiss teammate’s time was “tough to beat. I started a little bit faster and those hundredths were exactly the difference.”
Marco Odermatt won the FIS World Cup downhill race at the Val Gardena ski resort in South Tyrol, Italy.
There was a longer stoppage for fog once the top-ranked racers completed their runs, then the race was interrupted again when No. 45 starter Fredrik Moeller had to be airlifted from the course. He crashed hard on his back while setting a fast time that matched Odermatt.
Minutes later, using the improving light, No. 47 starter Nils Alphand threatened a shock by leading at halfway. He placed fifth, just 0.27 back.
Chasing 5th straight season title
Victory extended Odermatt’s already big lead in the overall standings chasing a fifth straight title. He also won the season-opening downhill two weeks ago at Beaver Creek, Colo.
A 1-2 result for Switzerland’s top speed racers is routine in World Cup downhills. Odermatt twice won last season with Von Allmen as runner-up, including at Val Gardena, and Odermatt was second in each of Von Allmen’s two World Cup wins.
Odermatt reached 50 World Cup wins at age 28 and tied Alberto Tomba for fourth on the all-time men’s list.
Ingmar Stenmark, the Swedish slalom and giant slalom great from the 1970s and ’80s, leads the men with 86 wins. The wins record was extended to 105 by Mikaela Shiffrin winning a slalom on Tuesday at Courchevel, France.
Jack Crawford of Toronto was top Canadian, placing 23rd of 62 finishers in 1:25:53. He was followed by Brodie Seger of North Vancouver (36th, 1:25.94), Jeffrey Read of Canmore, Alta. (45th, 1:26.22) and Raphael Lessard of Bromont, Que. (54th, 1:26.61).
Cam Alexander, coming off a 10th-place finish in Beaver Creek, did not start Thursday’s race after he “irritated his knee” on Tuesday. Last February, the North Vancouver native suffered a knee injury during his second downhill training run in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria and was ruled out of the world championships.
Thursday’s race replaced a downhill cancelled by the weather this month at Beaver Creek. Val Gardena stages a super-G on Friday then the classic Saslong race on Saturday over the full downhill distance.
Toronto’s Jack Crawford finished in 23rd place at the FIS World Cup downhill race at the Val Gardena ski resort in South Tyrol, Italy.
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