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For a moment, even Marco Odermatt’s gigantic coach Helmut Krug begins to doubt his extraordinary protégé. And that even though the 26-year-old from Nidwalden is in the lead after the first run on the Gran Risa. But his lead over Flip Zubcic (30) is only three tenths. And the Croat achieved an absolute dream run in the second round: he took two seconds from Olympic vice-champion Zan Kranjec (31). “After Zubcic’s bombing, I wouldn’t bet too much on Marco winning this race,” Krug admits.
The uncertainty is even greater among Odermatt’s followers in the stands. “I have a lot of confidence in Marco, but I can hardly imagine that he would win the race after Zubcic’s mega ride,” admits Odermatt’s girlfriend Stella.
Charming figure aged
But then the reigning giant slalom world champion and Olympic champion once again demonstrated his extra class. At the first intermediate time he had lost ten hundredths to the 30-year-old giant slalom specialist from Zagreb (three World Cup victories), but Odermatt managed to take the remaining lead with confidence.
The two-time World Cup winner achieved his 26th World Cup victory, his 16th in the giant slalom. In the ranking of all-time gigantic winners, the Buochser is one win ahead of the Italian superstar Alberto Tomba (56), which is a special satisfaction for Marco’s father Walti. Odermatt Senior is a die-hard fan of Pirmin Zurbriggen (60). And because “Tomba la Bomba” had a legendary duel with the Valais in the 1987/88 season, the 100-pound giant from the Po Valley was a “character” for Walti.
When Tomba took part in his last race at the World Cup Final in Crans-Montana USA in 1998, Marco Odermatt was five months old. That’s why he can’t say much about the man with a total of 50 World Cup victories. «But I read that Alberto would like to invite me to a ski hut one day. As soon as I have a little more time than I have now, I would like to accept this invitation.”
The man behind the gigantic achievement
During this South Tyrol tour there is absolutely no time for an après-ski party with “Grande Alberto”. There will be another giant slalom on the Gran Risa on Monday. After the three speed races in Val Gardena and the gigantic gala in Alta Badia, Odermatt will take part in the fifth race in five days.
The fact that he has apparently mastered this monstrous workload with ease is largely thanks to his strength and conditioning coach Kurt Kothbauer. The Upper Austrian really got the young Hermann Maier fit in the late 90s. The former shot putter and discus thrower has been working at Odermatt for seven years. «I owe a lot to Kurt; I was able to learn the optimal movement sequence from him. But he also taught me many other important things about being an athlete, and that is why I always manage to recover exceptionally well between competitions.”
There is only one that surpasses Odermatt’s gigantic series
Odermatt spent a lot of time with Kothbauer before this season. “Due to the enormous amount of competition that Odi has to complete this winter, we have placed a little more emphasis on strength and fitness than on skiing in this preparation,” explains ski coach Krug. That is why Odermatt now has even more power than his World Cup record (2042 points) from last season. He can currently handle 160 kilos with deep squats. That is ten kilos more than last year.
But his gigantic series is especially impressive. Since October 2021, Odermatt has competed in 19 World Cup giant slaloms and been on the podium without exception. Only the Swedish millennium driver Ingemar Stenmark (67, 86 World Cup victories) can boast an even better record in this discipline with 37 podium places en suite.
Source : Blick
I’m Emma Jack, a news website author at 24 News Reporters. I have been in the industry for over five years and it has been an incredible journey so far. I specialize in sports reporting and am highly knowledgeable about the latest trends and developments in this field.
