Marco Odermatt returns to winning ways in Beaver Creek. He won the duel against Frenchman Cyprien Sarrazin in the World Cup Super-G in the prestigious Colorado resort.
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- After 2nd place in the downhill, Marco Odermatt follows up with victory in the super-G in Beaver Creek.
- The man from Nidwalden wins with a lead of 18 hundredths over Frenchman Cyprien Sarrazin.
- In an interview after the triumph, Odermatt talks about a "brutally difficult race" and reveals that he needed luck to win.
It was a difficult task that Swiss coach Reto Nydegger set the racers as course setter. It was a super-G that placed the highest demands on tactics. A course that challenged all participants and overtaxed many of them. In the first phase of the race in particular, many of the participants struggled. Only four of the first ten on the start list reached the finish line.
Odermatt had seen the difficulties coming. He had already thought during the inspection that many would struggle. As usual, he had drawn up a clear plan - and the high failure rate at the start confirmed that he had been right in his assessment. However, Odermatt summed it up after the work was done, saying that he hadn't got through everywhere as confidently as he would have liked.
"It was a brutally difficult race," the man from Nidwalden analyzed on SRF. Both the surface and the material set-up caused problems. Odermatt's secret? "I saw that you simply have to 'abelah' in the upper section, despite feeling like shit." At the bottom, he was simply lucky. "I had to 'bite it' once or twice," says the man from Buoch honestly.
The run was nevertheless enough for Odermatt to win the first duel against Sarrazin by a margin of 18 hundredths - a duel that the 27-year-old had rather expected the day before in the downhill. Surprisingly, the Frenchman had not been a factor in the battle for the top places. He put the fact that he only managed 9th place down to the high expectations.
The ongoing learning process
In other words, Sarrazin is still getting used to his new role, which involves additional pressure and has catapulted him into the spotlight since his meteoric rise last winter. Much is still new to him, who has long paid for his bravado with an inordinate number of falls.
Sarrazin finds himself in a learning process that Odermatt has long since gone through, having already felt the public's interest as a young rider, who has gradually been able to get used to his status. Sarrazin, on the other hand, has not had much time to take this step. His rise from the masses to the circle of top riders happened overnight, so to speak.
"I have to work on it to be able to enjoy the moment. Yesterday I needed time to come to terms with my performance in the downhill," said the Frenchman after the super-G, which had started with a moment of shock for him. Not much was missing and he would have slipped on the inside ski in the second gate. The chance of finishing at the top of the rankings seemed to be gone. "That's why I had nothing to lose after that."
The fact that he still managed to finish second despite the slip-up shows that, under normal circumstances, Sarrazin is able to seamlessly build on his performances from last season. The 30-year-old Frenchman will also be one of Odermatt's first challengers this winter.
The closed circle
For his part, Odermatt has come full circle for the time being. Victory number 38 in the World Cup came at the same venue where he also achieved his first victory at this level in a super-G five years and one day ago. He also dominated the super-G in Beaver Creek three years ago.
Gino Caviezel was the second best Swiss in this winter's first super-G in 7th place. 24 hours after his victory in the downhill, Justin Murisier finished in 17th place together with team-mate Alexis Monney.
Second place in the downhill on Friday, now victory in the super-G - Odermatt compensated almost perfectly on the Birds of Prey piste for his failure in the giant slalom at the end of October on the Rettenbach glacier above Sölden on the first two occasions. He immediately got back on track and once again demonstrated one of his many strengths. The next duels with Sarrazin can come - and with them similarly difficult tasks as this Saturday in Beaver Creek.
