COURCHEVEL. Marco Odermatt should have recovered following his extravagant gold party on Sunday, his World Cup mission is not over yet. The downhill champion from Switzerland starts free of pressure and as the big favorite in today’s giant slalom (10 a.m. and 1.30 p.m., ORF 1, and live ticker on nachrichten.at) in Courchevel, where the organizers have watered properly and conjured up a supposed ice rink.
“I think I’m in good shape. I’ll be bold and go for it,” said Odermatt, who won four of the six giant slalom races this World Cup season. Once the 25-year-old was third, once – in Schladming – he missed because he had previously insulted the meniscus in Kitzbühel.
The Austrians, who have never gone empty-handed in the World Cup giant slalom since 2009, have two potential medal candidates in their talon. Manuel Feller (second in Val d’Isere) and Marco Schwarz (third in Schladming) achieved top 3 results in this discipline in winter 2022/23. The conditions in France should suit Feller in particular, who was slightly ill regarding a week ago.
“You can’t force the color”
“I’m definitely in one of the best shape curves I’ve had at a World Cup so far. I can compete with confidence,” emphasizes the 30-year-old Fieberbrunner, who conquered 2017 World Cup slalom silver in St. Moritz. In the current title fights, the Austrian Ski Association is still without gold. Does that increase the pressure? “My goal is to get a medal. You can’t force the color,” says Feller.
His red-white-red competitors Stefan Brennsteiner, Raphael Haaser and Schwarz, who has already won silver in the combination, see it in a similar way. “I want to step on the gas from the first second,” says Schwarz, who has digested the thankless fourth place on the descent.
Hubertus von Hohenlohe (64) does not have the right to start today, the “Prince” holding up the Mexican flag failed to qualify at his 21st World Cup. Instead, a grandfather of four finished – namely the 59-year-old Haitian Jean-Pierre Roy, who was proud of himself despite his last place. The fact that the 74th was 1:49.84 minutes short of the best time in the final count is not a broken leg.
