ADELBODEN, Switzerland (AP) — Olympic champion Marco Odermatt showed his dominance in giant slalom again Saturday to lead the first run of his home nation’s classic World Cup race.
The 25-year-old Swiss was 0.32 seconds faster than Henrik Kristoffersen and well set to extend his leads in the overall and giant slalom season-long standings.
Odermatt’s name was chanted before his run by fans in a sold-out crowd of more than 20,000, and he mastered the steep final slope into the noisy finish area.
Loïc Meillard, Odermatt’s teammate, trailed by 0.49 and was the only other skier within a second of the lead. Only six racers had less than two seconds to make up in the afternoon second run.
Warm and snow-free winter weather in central Europe has created conditions Swiss broadcaster RTS described as “almost a miracle” that organizers could stage a race.
Racers skied down a white ribbon of soft, sun-bathed artificial snow on the storied Chuenisbärgli course that was lined by lush green fields that are cow pastures in the summer.
The temperature was just above freezing for the first starters Saturday and forecast to rise to about 7 Celsius (45 Fahrenheit) when the second run started at 1:30 p.m. local time.
A quirk of the Adelboden course is the sun setting quickly behind surrounding hills during the second run. The fast-fading light gives racers in around 10th place a chance to soar up the standings before the first-run leaders are the last to start.
One of defending champion Odermatt’s few distant challengers in the overall standings, Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, was ninth-fastest making a rare start in giant slalom.
Kilde, the 2020 overall champion who has three wins in downhill this season, had 2.05 to make up.
Odermatt has won three of the four giant slaloms this season and the other race winner, Lucas Braathen, had the fastest time when he skied out midway down the course. The Norwegian racer took a too-direct line and was unbalanced by his left arm striking a gate.
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