Marco Odermatt arrived in Beaver Creek with 27 World Cup giant slalom victories, including 12 in a row during the 2022-23 season. Surprisingly, Sunday marked the first time he stepped onto the GS podium at Beaver Creek.
Odermatt, the 28-year-old Swiss star who has eight previous podiums in downhill and super-G at the Stiefel Birds of Prey, collected his first giant slalom podium with a victory at the famed venue with a combined time of 2:20.59. Italy’s Alex Vinatzer was second, 0.23 seconds back, while Norway’s Henrik Kristofferson was third, 0.34 behind Odermatt.
It was Odermatt’s 49th World Cup win overall – he also won the downhill here on Dec. 4 – and 28th World Cup giant slalom win. Sweden’s Ingemar Stenmark holds the record in giant slalom for both men and women with 46 career victories. Austrian Marcel Hirscher sits second, with 31 GS wins.
Local standout River Radamus was the highest-placing American in sixth, 0.50 seconds behind Odermatt. Wearing bib 11, Radamus, who grew up in nearby Edwards, vaulted into the lead for much of the second run with a strong performance on his “home” mountain. It was his 11th top-10 giant slalom finish of his World Cup career.
After several days of stormy weather, Sunday was mostly clear with occasional clouds. While new snow fell overnight, race organizers did not have the added burden of having to remove snow from the race course during the race itself.
“I already had good races in Aspen and lots of good memories at Beaver Creek, but not in the giant slalom. So, I finally managed to put a (good run) down,” said Odermatt after his win, his fifth overall on the Birds of Prey course that has been a host to World Cup races since 1997. “I don’t feel dominant, but when I really want it, I bring it together to fight for the top spot and to bring on the power in my skiing. Every day it’s a big challenge.
“The second run was very tough, the visibility was not good again,” said Odermatt, who won the first run and therefore went last in the second run, about the time that clouds moved in for the afternoon. “The track was not as clean as the first run with bib number 1, but I just tried to fight.”
Vinatzer secured his first giant slalom podium of his World Cup career; he has three prior podium finishes in slalom since 2020. “It’s taken a lot of work, sometimes there have been moments of crisis in GS for me, but I hope that won’t happen again,” said Vinatzer, 26. “It’s good at the moment. I tried to give everything I’ve got, so to finish (on the podium) feels amazing.
“I took a lot of risks. Some places I didn’t feel that comfortable, but I tried to push through and through and make my skis run fast. In the end it paid off,” said Vinatzer, who trained in Vail in his youth on an exchange program, and had previous experience with Colorado snow that is often described as aggressive or grippy. “The snow is cool, and it just feels amazing when it’s the right kind of snow.”
RESULTS
Men’s giant slalom
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