Kristoffersen wins giant slalom race, Odermatt secures discipline title

Marco Odermatt has secured the first of two Crystal Globes he hopes to win this World Cup season. And claiming that second one seems a formality.

The Olympic champion from Switzerland finished runner-up to Henrik Kristoffersen in a giant slalom Saturday to lock up the discipline season title with two races to spare.

His second place also helped Odermatt to close in on the overall title, generally regarded the most important prize in alpine skiing.

"Wining a Globe is maybe not as emotional as the moment you cross the line and win a race. But when I hold that globe in my hand, I will be proud," Odermatt said from Kranjska Gora, Slovenia.

Kristoffersen was fifth after the opening run but had an attacking effort to land his sixth career win in GS, posting a two-run time of two minutes 18.28 seconds to match the best mark from Kjetil Andre Aamodt for most GS wins by a skier from Norway.

"I skied a little bit safe in the first run but the second run was really nice skiing," Kristoffersen said.

Odermatt improved from seventh position after the opening run to share second place with Kristoffersen's teammate Lucas Braathen, 0.33 seconds off the lead in 2:18.61.

Odermatt's Swiss teammate Loic Meillard posted the fastest second-run time and climbed from 18th to fourth.

It's a big relief and wonderful to have secured the [Crystal] Globe two races before the [season finale].— 2022 Olympic men's giant slalom champion Marco Odermatt

Toronto's Trevor Philp was top Canadian in 13th, 1.9 seconds off the pace in 2:20.18, followed by Calgary's Erik Read in 19th (2:20.67).

The result gave Odermatt an insurmountable 207-point lead over Kristoffersen in the GS standings.

"It's a big relief and wonderful to have secured the [Crystal] Globe two races before the [season finale]," said Odermatt, who had not won a discipline title before.

Last season, Odermatt finished runner-up in the season standings in both GS and super-G. In the current campaign he has won four of the six giant slaloms so far.

Standout season

His second place also helped Odermatt to close in on the overall title. He stretched his lead to 269 points over his closest challenger, Norwegian speed specialist Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, who was skipping the race weekend in Slovenia.

It adds to the standout season for Odermatt, who gained the first downhill podium of his career and earned his first Olympic gold last month.

"All these things are different, all these things are special," he said.

Odermatt stretched his lead to 269 points in the overall standings over his closest challenger, Norwegian speed specialist Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, who was skipping the race weekend in Slovenia.

Kilde was also in the race for the downhill title and opted to prepare for the downhill race at the World Cup Finals in France on Wednesday.

Defending overall champion Alexis Pinturault, who led the race after the opening run, dropped to 11th as his disappointing season continued. Pinturault is still chasing his first win of the season after earning three podium results so far.

Coverage continues Sunday on CBCSports.ca and the CBC Sports app with another giant slalom, with the first run set to begin at 4:30 a.m. ET and the second at 7:30 a.m.