Odermatt wins giant slalom

Val-d’Isère, France: Swiss skier Marco Odermatt bounced back to form in the giant slalom, his favourite event, to take his first victory in the discipline this season at Val d´Isere on Saturday.

The 27-year-old Odermatt, who failed to finish in his two previous giant slaloms this season, was quickest in the first run down the Face de Bellevarde before clinging on in difficult conditions in the second run to claim his fourth successive win at Val d´Isere.

He beat the Austrian pair of Patrick Feurstein, who finished just 0.08 seconds back, and Stefan Brennsteiner, who was 0.12sec off behind Odermatt. “I really love this place,” said Odermatt who has now won four times at Val d´Isere. “Here you really feel you´re in winter.”

A master of the discipline - he has Olympic and world championship gold, three small World Cup globe victories and 23 victories to his name including nine out of 10 last season - there was an element of redemption for ´Odi´ after his catastrophic start to the winter saw his failure to finish in Soelden and Beaver Creek. “I always knew I was fast so (DNFs) weren´t a big problem for me,” said Odermatt. “But still, it hurts my confidence a bit so it was important to win today.”

With this giant victory, Odermatt chalked up his second success of the winter after the Beaver Creek Super-G at the beginning of December, taking him up to second in the overall standings, 10 points behind the Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen, who was second on the first run before finishing fifth.