Associated PressRead for 2 minutes
SOLDEU, Andorra – Marco Odermatt underlined his dominance in men’s ski racing on Saturday by breaking the 23-year-old men’s record for most World Championship points in a season.
The Swiss star won his last race of the season, the giant slalom at the World Cup final, by a whopping 2.11 seconds over second place Henrik Kristoffersen from Norway.
The win brought Odermatt’s total to 2,042 points and past Austrian great Hermann Maier’s previous mark of 2,000 in the 1999–2000 season.
“Sorry, Hermann,” Odermatt joked in a post-race interview with Austrian TV, adding that the record meant “a lot” to him.
“The last few days I always said, no no, not that important, just numbers,” said Odermatt. “But the way I felt today, with that pressure again, I knew it was more important than I said. I’m really happy it worked out.”
Last week, Maier wrote on his website that he hoped Odermatt would catch up with him.
“In my eyes, Marco has not even reached his peak yet and he can still improve, especially downhill,” said Maier.
Theoretically, Odermatt has a chance to add even more points in the season-ending slalom, but he has never raced at World Cup level in that event.
The overall record between men and women is held by Slovenian star Tina Maze, who amassed 2,414 points when she won the women’s overall title in 2013.
Odermatt, who is an Olympic champion, tied another record with his 13th win of the season. No male skier has ever won more races in one campaign, and only Maier, Ingemar Stenmark and Marcel Hirscher achieved this feat in the past.
The overall record for wins in a season is held by Mikaela Shiffrin, who won 17 times en route to the 2018/19 women’s overall title.
Odermatt had already successfully defended his overall title and secured the super-G and giant slalom globes.
“I was looking forward to finals without pressure, but today I felt that pressure again,” he said. “It wasn’t easy today. I was nervous again because of those damn 2,000 points. Now with another win, over two seconds ahead, I don’t know what to say.”
On Saturday, the Swiss star set the second-fastest time in his final run, building on his clear lead from the first run when he was 1.09 seconds faster than Alexis Pinturault. The French skier fell back to eighth place.
Kristoffersen only finished in eighth place after the opening race before moving up to second place. Marco Schwarz from Austria finished third with 2.29 behind.