Defending champion Odermatt grabs 1st win of World Cup season, taking super-G at Beaver Creek | CBC Sports
Swiss star Marco Odermatt won his first World Cup race of the season on Saturday with a spectacular finish in the super-G at Beaver Creek, Colo.
The three-time defending World Cup overall champion was behind by eight-hundredths of a second at the final check point but erased that in the last 18 seconds to beat Cyprien Sarrazin of France by 18-hundredths of a second.
WATCH | Odermatt wins super-G:
The Swiss superstar paced the field with a final score of 1:09.41 during the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup stop in Beaver Creek.
Odermatt completed the Birds of Prey course in 1-minute, 9.41 seconds. Austrian Lukas Feurstein was third in 1:09.88 for his first podium.
“Today was a very difficult one. It was already a little bit bumpy from the top and then you had to really ski smart from the middle section,” Odermatt said. “It was quite fast but still big turns, and also all the rolls have been quite big this year. It was difficult to ski, not easy to stay on the line.”
North Vancouver’s Brodie Seger, the lone Canadian to finish the race, finished 21st.
WATCH | Seger can’t crack top 10:
After cracking the top-10 in the weekend’s downhill event, North Vancouver’s Brodie Seger settled for 21st in the men’s super-G competition with a time of 1:10.77. Seger was the lone Canadian of six to finish the race.
Odermatt, who has won 38 World Cup races, earned his first World Cup victory almost exactly four years ago at Beaver Creek.
“It’s unbelievable. I would never have dream about this. It started some years ago and I hope I can continue a little bit longer,” he said. “Beaver Creek is always very special for me, especially after the first victory … but also just the atmosphere. We really like to ski here.”
River Radamus of Colorado was the top American finisher at eighth in 1:01.25.
The giant slalom on Sunday wraps up the Colorado stop. Odermatt was second in the downhill on Friday.
