Odermatt wins historic fifth consecutive Adelboden Giant Slalom

Marco Odermatt (SUI/Stöckli) made history on Saturday by becoming the first skier to win five consecutive Giant Slalom World Cup titles at Adelboden, which he described as his "first love".

The Stöckli skier came into the race as one of only two men, along with Sweden's Ingemar Stenmark (1978/79-1981/82), to win four races on the bounce on the Swiss slope.

He now stands alone as the only one to go five in a row, with his first run aggressively setting the tone as others struggled to come to term with difficult conditions that only deteriorated as the day went on.

The second run accounted for several top skiers as purchase on the icy snow became difficult to come by, including Odermatt's title rivals Marco Schwarz (AUT/Atomic) and Stefan Brennsteiner (AUT/Fischer) - with the latter relinquishing his place at the top of the Giant Slalom standings to Odermatt as a result of his DNF.

As so often is the case, Odermatt was equal to the challenge of poor visibility and a slope that had pushed others beyond their limits.

The Swiss athlete was last out the gate, and put down a run in which he was able to show more confidence in his outside ski than others had done, and though his run was not mistake-free, he eventually crossed the line to an eruption of noise from the home crowd in a time of 2:31.23. His time was 0.49 seconds better than second-place Lucas Pinheiro Braathen (BRA/Atomic), while Leo Anguenot (FRA/Rossignol) came third (+0.68) to claim a second ever World Cup podium following his second-place finish in Alta Badia last season.

Odermatt's victory also brings him alongside Stenmark as the only two athletes to win five Giant Slaloms in total in Adelboden, as well as putting him equal with Michael von Gruenigen (SUI) in third place of the all-time most Giant Slalom podium places with 46 - a list topped by Stenmark with 72 top-three finishes.

"For me Adelboden was my first love and will always be my big love," said Odermatt, who first won on the iconic Chuenisbärgli in January 2022.

"I was here as a small kid, it was always a big dream of mine to start here, to be a World Cup skier.

"Now to win this, my childhood dream, for a fifth time in a row is really special."

Asked what he felt was the formula for his success, Odermatt made a sweeping gesture to the thousands packed in the stands.

"I think that's the secret - everyone here," he said. "They really made me push harder.

"This energy, this extra pressure and motivation helps me to ski fast."

Pinheiro Braathen was in pole position after getting the green light with only Odermatt to come, but despite losing out to his Swiss rival, the Brazilian could not wipe the smile from his face.

Adelboden was the scene of a big crash for Pinheiro Braathen in 2021 in which he picked up serious knee injury, and on making his return to the slope on three previous Giant Slalom occasions since then, he recorded a trio of DNFs.

His finish of second on Saturday, therefore, was cause for an ecstatic Pinheiro Braathen to celebrate overcoming mental obstacles in order to record his first ever Adelboden Giant Slalom podium, having won the Slalom on the same slope in 2023.

"I am so emotional right now," the Atomic skier said. "In fact I was very emotional in between runs today, just having been able to finish the pitch.

"It's the first time I've seen the finish line here in Adelboden since I took my knee here.

"I worked so much mentally, even gone to the extent of going to therapy for this race specifically to be able to overcome it.

"Man did it take some years, but when I first came back, I came back all the way to the podium. Words can't really describe how proud I am right now."

Pinheiro Braathen joined Odermatt in paying tribute to those who had come to show their support.

"Words cannot describe what Adelboden brings out of someone," he said.

"To be able to stand in front of all of these tens of thousands of fans here, giving everybody - even the ones that are against their own people here today - so much love, so much vibrancy.

"When I get to these big classics I tend to just accumulate all of that energy and put it into my performance. It always helps me.

"What a day to be able to put on a show for all of these amazing fans."

Pinheiro Braathen moved into fourth in the overall standings as a result of his podium, while Henrik Kristoffersen (NOR/Van Deer) is now in third after coming fifth on Saturday, one place behind Timon Haugan (NOR/Van Deer).

Anguenot, meanwhile, said the difficult conditions actually played to his favour as he managed to beat his previous best finish of 16th in Adelboden.

"It's amazing. It was icy, which is what I like," the Rossignol athlete said.

"The visibility was poor, but I tried to stay calm and do my skiing like in the first run. It's exactly what I did, exactly the plan I had, so I am very happy with my skiing today.

"Adelboden has a special place in my heart and I'm so happy to do it here with an amazing crowd and my family."