In the run-up to the downhill in Bormio - and after the serious crash of Frenchman Cyprien Sarrazin - Marco Odermatt speaks of a "fight for survival". On Saturday, you can see from his run that these statements are no coincidence.
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- Marco Odermatt avoids a fall in extremis in the downhill in Bormio (see video above).
- The airbag even opens during his near-crash, which costs Odermatt even more time. But that doesn't bother him at all, he is simply happy to have reached the finish in one piece: "Yes, I was very lucky."
- It's the luck that Cyprien Sarrazin didn't have the day before in the downhill training. The Frenchman was taken to hospital with a serious head injury and had to undergo surgery on Friday.
- The Swiss celebrate their third double victory in the third downhill of the season. Alexis Monney wins ahead of Franjo von Allmen and the Canadian Cameron Alexander. Marco Odermatt (5th), Justin Murisier (6th), Marco Kohler (9th) and Stefan Rogentin (11th) ensure a fantastic result from a Swiss perspective.
World Cup leader Marco Odermatt said in the run-up to the downhill in Bormio: "You come here knowing full well that it's not going to be a Christmas vacation. It's a fight for survival. You might have a brief good feeling when you reach the finish and know that you've come through reasonably well. But otherwise there's not much cool from start to finish."
And that's exactly what happens on Saturday: Odermatt avoids a crash in extremis and crosses the finish line in fourth place - in the end it's 5th place. This is the first time this season that he has missed the podium in a speed race, but after this scary moment this is only secondary, says Odermatt himself in an interview with "SRF": "Yes, definitely. I still don't know exactly what happened. Up to that point, I don't think it was so bad. Bormio is difficult and anyone can get caught out, but I had a short snowfall there. Yes, I was very lucky."
Odermatt triggers the airbag with a near fall
The fact that the airbag deployed was not helpful for the rest of the ride, but it was still a good thing that it happened: "Fortunately, that was the first time in my life that it deployed. A false deployment somewhere and yet I believe that the airbag had to deploy at that moment. It was anything but a natural movement. And that's why I'm glad it opened, even though there are certainly easier things than riding with an open airbag."
How difficult was it to simply put this moment of shock behind you and carry on riding? "I think you still have the adrenaline and are still in the race and then you don't think about it too much." Of course, he knew that he would lose a lot of time with his mishap and because of the open airbag, so he simply said to himself: "Now I have to drive my race down and take what I can. But no more driving a line where it's about winning."
The fact that he finished fifth in the end is worthy of all honors. However, two Swiss racers are even faster than Odermatt and ensure the third Swiss double victory in the third downhill of the season. Alexis Monney wins ahead of Franjo von Allmen. Justin Murisier (6th), Marco Kohler (9th) and Stefan Rogentin (11th) were also convincing.
Cyprien Sarrazin's heavy crash the day before
In contrast to Odermatt, Cyprien Sarrazin was unable to avoid a serious crash the day before. The Frenchman underwent surgery on Friday. Read more here: The health update from Saturday morning.
