Schwarz ends epic drought with stunning GS win

After two years battling injury and subsequent loss of form, Marco Schwarz (AUT/Atomic) is an Audi FIS World Cup champion again.

Exhibiting all the touch, skill and mental resolve that made him one of his generation’s standout skiers, Schwarz proved his enduring class by powering to victory down the Gran Risa, Alta Badia’s iconic Giant Slalom track, on Sunday afternoon.

Comfortably ahead after a superb run one, the 2021 Alpine combined world champion narrowly held off a charging Lucas Pinheiro Braathen (BRA/Atomic). The green-and-yellow clad man 0.18 seconds away from claiming his first GS win under Brazilian colours.

Schwarz’s close friend Stefan Brennsteiner (AUT/Fischer) completed a marquee day for the Austrians by grabbing third. With Marco Odermatt (SUI/Stöckli) sixth – the first time since March 2021 that the Swiss maestro has reached the finish line of a World Cup GS race and not ended up on the podium – Brennsteiner is the new leader of the World Cup GS standings.

‘I was a little bit nervous’

But for now, the 35-year-old will no doubt be happy to hand the spotlight to Schwarz. In the 729 days since the all-rounder last stepped on top of a World Cup podium, Schwarz has faced a litany of challenges. First, he ruptured his ACL during the Bormio Downhill in December 2023, when leading the Overall World Cup standings. Then having fought back to fitness, he was hit with a herniated disc. All of which left him scrabbling for form and confidence during his eventual return 12 months ago.

No wonder he could not keep the emotion out of his voice after finally tasting victory once again.

First out of the gate in the morning run, Schwarz laid down a marker that no one could get close to. Precise down the devilish middle section, he attacked hard elsewhere to take more than half-a-second on the field. Then came the ultimate challenge.

“For sure I was a little bit nervous, I think that’s pretty normal when you are in the lead. I think it’s the first time I am in the lead and I made the victory, so more than happy,” Schwarz said laughing, after a heart-in-the-mouth second run in which he stormed back in the lower section having appeared in danger early on.

“It was a tough fight. In the steep part there were two gates (where) it was a little bit bumpy but the rest was really good. I tried to focus on my instinct and I tried to let the skis run.”

The skis did exactly what they needed to do to deliver a first GS World Cup triumph in almost three years.

‘This was the day’

After starting the season with a DNF in Sölden, Pinheiro Braathen admitted that confidence in his GS skiing was low. But back on the Gran Risa, a course famed among GS aficionados, the 25-year-old found all his natural exuberance once more. As he revealed when asked how he felt starting run two in fifth position.

So, it proved. Following the pre-race instructions of his team to “press on the outside ski”, the Brazilian swept through the fearsome middle section that caught so many others out. Displaying a tactical maturity that has become a trademark this season, Pinheiro Braathen attacked when he could, and took his foot ever so slightly off the gas when the track demanded it. A combination that so nearly brought a longed-for win.

“At the end of the day, this sport is all about close calls, it’s all about margins. Marco was the best man today, I am so proud to have put myself back on the podium,” the showman said a touch ruefully, before endearing himself even more to the locals.

“Racing in Italy is one of my favourites. There are very few places I feel more loved, more energy… from all the amazing fans around us here. I could never do it without them. At the end of the day I live to ski and to dance and to put on a show. 

‘A good sign’

The smile on Brennsteiner’s face was just as wide, with the veteran one of the few skiers who might not want to head off for a short Christmas break. The Austrian has never finished higher than sixth in the GS season-long Crystal Globe race, but five races in he is the man to catch.

The only skier to have finished inside the top-10 in every race so far, Brennsteiner is a genuine contender – with not even Odermatt able to match him right now.

Leader of the standings on arrival in Alta Badia, everything seemed to suggest Odermatt – victorious in five of the past six World Cup GS races in the Italian resort – would only increase that advantage. Unless he failed to finish. Dating back to the season-opener in Sölden in 2021, Odermatt had ended up on the GS podium 36 times in succession, with four DNFs and a DNS.

But it was not to be on Sunday. Two Downhills and a Super G in his previous five days over in Val Gardena perhaps showed as the Overall World Cup leader produced two uncharacteristically ragged runs to finish 0.82 seconds back.

He will return on Italian snow for the men’s Super G in Livigno on 27 December.