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With the victory at Chuenisbärgli, a childhood dream came true for Marco Odermatt and a 14-year dry spell came to an end for Ski Switzerland.
What did it shake him up again on the final slope? A final slope that was even more icy and treacherous than in previous years. And so Marco Odermatt’s lead shrank the closer the Nidwalden came to the finish line.
Nidwalden strong nerves
But Odermatt stayed cool, as he actually always does – in the start house, on the slopes, during the interviews. At the end of the day, the 24-year-old managed to cross the finish line on Manuel Feller for just under half a second. Odermatt not only relegated the Austrian, who drove the competition to the ears in the 2nd run, but also Alexis Pinturault (3rd), the overall World Cup winner and double last year’s winner, to an extra on the Chuenisbärgli.
Even before the races, the Swiss spoke about the pressure that, as the leader of the overall World Cup, he felt even more clearly after the last results – and that he is increasingly putting on himself. Now he was once again the last in the start house with the red start number – thousands of expectant ski fans in the valley.
Swiss spell broken
And once again Odermatt proved its mental strength. With his triumph, 14 years after Marc Berthod, he ensured another home win at the giant slalom in Adelboden. “The time was ripe to relieve me,” said the SRF expert, who praised Odermatt for its strong nerves. Before the race, Berthod had written the eventual winner a letter to give him the energy he needed for the coup.
“It means everything to me,” said an emotional winner shortly after the end of the race and confessed: “I already shed tears on the two chairlift rides, which otherwise never happens.” Indeed, with the home win, a great burden seemed to fall from the Nidwalden’s shoulders.
The World Cup leader announced that he had rarely heard his name as often as in the last few days: “Even the night before I heard children speak of me through the open window.” With the home win, «Odi» has fulfilled a childhood dream and remains the man of the hour – not only in Adelboden.
But not only Odermatt, Justin Murisier also had two reasons to be happy. On his 30th birthday, of all people, his roommate pushed him off the podium. But what was probably the happiest fourth-placed placed himself humbly, praised his colleague and only finally found words for his performance and his season’s best result: “It couldn’t be better.”