Odermatt enters a new dimension!

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It is June 21, 2022 when Austrian superstar Hermann Maier and Nidwaldens high flyer Marco Odermatt meet for the first time. The two have made an appointment for a double interview with SonntagsBlick in an inn in the Salzburg region.

Towards the end of a very humorous conversation, the reporter asked the “Herminator” if he was afraid that Odermatt could take the World Cup record of 2000 points in one season from him. “I trust Marco a lot, but this 2000 mark is actually not really relevant. For a freeskier it is much more important that at the end of a World Cup winter he has won so many crystal balls that he can no longer carry them himself. »

Odermatt agrees with the 50-year-old master that night. “As a driver you don’t care how big the lead is in a race win or the number of points in an overall win. Whether clear or close – victory is victory.

Almost eight months later, the exceptional 25-year-old athlete from Lake Lucerne realized that the number of points can be of great importance. While the longtime winner of the big shot for the overall World Cup and the minor Super-G and giant slalom shots, Odermatt looks extremely tense for this winter’s final giant slalom at Soldeu.

“This brand is already very important to me”

“Before coming to Andorra, I thought I could play this final without any pressure. But then suddenly I felt pressure at the start. Then I realized that reaching that 2000 mark is something very important.”

But, as is known, the World and Olympic Champion handles pressure better than any other alpine racer of the time. That is why after the first run he is already more than a second ahead of the French combined world champion Alexis Pinturault (30).

Because a third place is enough to improve the record of the 23-year-old Maier, he was able to get a little tactical in the decisive round. Especially now that the visibility in the Pyrenees is getting worse. The man of 1.83 meters goes to the extreme again. And will be rewarded.

He wins with no less than 2.11 seconds ahead of slalom world champion Henrik Kristoffersen (28), who improved from eighth to second place in the final. The World Cup points record now stands at 2042! “This brand is very important to me now. Especially since I expect it to last,” says the beaming Odermatt.

With his 13th World Cup victory this winter, he now holds the victory record of the season together with Maier, Marcel Hirscher (33, Austria) and Ingemar Stenmark (67, Sd). And with his 24th overall World Cup win, Odermatt is tied with Zurich’s Peter Müller in the all-time ranking. For example, Pirmin Zurbriggen (60, 40 World Cup victories) is the only Swiss who can point to more successes.

Kristoffersen attacks Swiss coaches!

Since Odermatt’s buddy Thomas Tumler (34) also shone with the best time in the second run yesterday and thus improved from 16th to 5th place in the final, one can speak of one of the most beautiful days in Swiss skiing history.

Only Henrik Kristoffersen sees things differently. The Viking raged at half-time because of the course set by Odermatt’s assistant coach Johannes Hassler in an interview with Norwegian television: “The Swiss are ruining skiing with such fast giant runs!”

Kristoffersen is then laced up by giant slalom veteran Hans Knauss (Adelboden winner and second 2003 world champion) on ORF. “Henrik’s choice of words is really totally exaggerated,” criticized the 53-year-old. “In my eyes it was a wonderful giant slalom course. The Swiss coach has set target distances of 27 meters. When I was active around the turn of the millennium, our coach Toni Giger, who now works for Kristoffersen’s outfitter Van Deer, set target distances of 30 yards. It got to the point where the helmet whistled!

At the end of this historic day, the “poisonous tooth” from Norway was also appeased – Kristoffersen made a demonstrative bow to Odermatt at the award ceremony. And Hermann Maier now looks at the World Cup points record from a different perspective. “It took me 23 years, thanks to Odermatt, to realize what 2000 points in one season means – you have to win pretty much everything for that…”

Source : Blick