Swiss skier Marco Odermatt takes eventful World Cup super-G for 1st win in Kitzbuhel
Canadians Cam Alexander, Jack Crawford post top-10 finishes
Swiss ski star Marco Odermatt finally added Kitzbuhel to his list of World Cup victories on Friday, winning an eventful super-G at the iconic Austrian resort that saw a handful of racers crash badly.
It was the 44th career win for the skier who has been dominating World Cup racing for the past three seasons, but Odermatt hadn't finished better than second in 10 previous starts on one of the toughest courses of the circuit.
"For me, it was a very solid race. I tried to be clever, that's what was needed today," Odermatt told Austrian TV. "I think in every section of the course some racers were faster than me, but a race is about who is the fastest from top to bottom."
Raphael Haaser trailed Odermatt by 0.11 seconds in second in the Austrian's first race after an injury layoff of nearly six weeks. Swiss teammates Stefan Rogentin and Franjo von Allmen placed third and fourth, respectively.
Canada had two skiers in the top 10, with North Vancouver's Cam Alexander placing fifth, just 0.60 seconds behind Odermatt, and Toronto's Jack Crawford finishing eighth, 0.09 back of Alexander.
The race was interrupted numerous times after racers crashed, most notably when Alexis Pinturault was airlifted off the course with an apparent right knee injury.
Entering a left turn, Pinturault caught a bump and his right ski hit a gate before he slid off the course. He initially stood up but laid down again and tapped on his right knee when medics attended him.
Pinturault, a three-time Olympic medallist who won the 2021 World Cup overall championship, competed only in his eighth race since returning from an 11-month layoff for an injury to his left knee.
"So many crashes, especially Alexis again, that hurts," said Odermatt, adding he tried to pick a rounder race line in the section where many crashed over the icy bumps.
Odermatt extended his lead in both the overall and discipline standings. He became the only skier with a second win in the discipline this season, after the first four super-G races got four different winners.
The racers that were ranked second and third behind him in the super-G standings before the race, Austria's Vincent Kriechmayr and Norway's Fredrik Moeller, didn't start, a week after they both had crashes in a downhill at another classic venue, Wengen.
The super-G opened the 85th edition of the classic Hahnenkamm races, which also consist of a downhill on Saturday followed by a slalom the next day.
WATCH | Odermatt wins the Kitzbuhel super-G for the 1st time:
