He had passed very close to the podium by taking fourth place in the super-G on Thursday. Three days later, Marco Odermatt finally holds his first world medal. And it's not just any color. On Sunday February 12, the Swiss skier won the downhill title at the world championships in Courchevel (Savoie), ahead of the Norwegian Aleksander Aamodt Kilde by 48 hundredths and the Canadian Cameron Alexander by 89 hundredths.
“It's amazing, my run was perfect, I took risks, the material worked well. Maybe I wanted to make up for the disappointment of the super-G. I was a little sad, even if it was still a solid race,” explained the Swiss, all smiles at the microphone of France TV Sport, a few minutes after crossing the finish line.
At 25, Marco Odermatt finally wins a world title, he who has already become Olympic giant slalom champion in 2022, in Beijing. Paradoxically, it was in the race where he was least expected in Courchevel that he won this medal. A specialist in technical events, Odermatt had never won a single downhill in his career (eight podiums so far). He rectified the title at the best of times, winning quite widely, starting with bib 10.
This gold medal thus adds to the already well-stocked list of the Swiss. After winning the big crystal globe – rewarding the winner of the Ski World Cup – the 2021-2022 season, he continues to chain victories this winter. In the World Cup, he had won four times in super-G and four times in giant slalom since the start of the season.
Maxence Muzaton cracked in the final
On the other hand, disappointment is in order in the tricolor clan in this downhill event. For his last world championships, circuit veteran Johan Clarey (42) failed to play with the best and finished far from the podium (18th, 1 second 89 hundredths).
It is, on the other hand, very close for Maxence Muzaton. Bib 24 on his back, he took the lead in the first three intermediates before cracking down the track and finally finishing sixth, 1 second and 8 hundredths behind. He only missed two tenths to get on the podium.
"I'm happy, I wanted to do a round with no regrets. At the bottom, I drew physically, I gave everything on the top and lacked a bit of lucidity at the end”, conceded the 32-year-old skier to France TV Sport. The Blues therefore remain for the moment with two medals in these Worlds which end on February 19, all won by Alexis Pinturault (gold in combined, and bronze in super-G).
