Swiss skier Marco Odermatt wins gold in men's super-G at worlds
Jeffrey Read is the top Canadian finisher, scoring 10th-place result
Marco Odermatt won gold in the men's super-G at the alpine skiing world championships on Friday in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, justifying his status as the big pre-race favourite.
The lauded Swiss standout beat silver medallist Raphael Haaser by one second as the Austrian skier earned the host nation's second medal, a day after Stephanie Venier won the women's super-G.
Adrian Smiseth Sejersted was 1.15 seconds behind Odermatt and took bronze for the Norwegian's first medal at a major event.
WATCH | Odermatt wins super-G world title:
Canmore, Alta., skier Jeffrey Read was the top Canadian finisher, 1.99 seconds behind Odermatt to finish in 10th place.
WATCH | Canada's Read cracks the top-10 at worlds:
Three of Read's Canadian teammates landed in the top 30: North Vancouver, B.C. native Riley Seger was 20th, Toronto's Jack Crawford ended up 27th. Brodie Seger, also of North Vancouver, B.C., was 28th.
WATCH | Read 'hungry for more' after breaking into the top-10 at worlds:
Canadian speed specialist Crawford, who upset the favourites to win the 2023 super-G world title, and won the prestigious Kitzbuehel downhill last month, finished 3.41 seconds off the lead.
His teammate Cam Alexander didn't start, a day after hurting his knee in a downhill training crash. Alexander was still expected to start in Sunday's downhill. He won downhill bronze at the worlds two years ago.
WATCH | Defending champ Crawford finishes 27th:
Odermatt had a flawless run down the sunbathed Schneekristall course and pointed his finger up to the sky and started celebrating almost as soon as he reached the finish area.
Then he pounded his chest several times and let out a scream as the pro-Austrian crowd reacted with awe and admiration.
"There are not many days or races as perfect as this one. You cannot race better, at least I can't," Odermatt said.
"I had the best feeling from the third gate. I felt my skis were perfect, did exactly what I wanted, and this gives you in a difficult super-G the confidence to ski your line, to attack, to search the limit, and not go over the limit."
WATCH | Odermatt chats with CBC Sports about his 'perfect' run:
It's the first super-G medal from a major event for Odermatt, the three-time overall World Cup champion who is the Olympic giant slalom champion. He won the downhill and GS titles at the worlds two years ago.
"It's extremely nice to be world champion in super-G as well, it's incredible," Odermatt said.
WATCH | Kitzbuhel champ Crawford says 'There's a lot more I want to accomplish in my career':
Odermatt is the runaway leader in the World Cup super-G standings and the only racer with multiple wins in the discipline this season, most recently in Kitzbuehel.
He became the first Swiss world champion in super-G since Didier Cuche won the title in 2009.
Vincent Kriechmayr, the 2021 world champion in both super-G and downhill, placed fourth and missed a medal by five-hundredths of a second in his first race since injuring his knee in a crash in the Jan. 18 downhill in Wengen.
The field missed several more standout racers because of injuries, most notably former overall World Cup champions Aleksander Aamodt Kilde and Alexis Pinturault as well as speed specialist Cyprien Sarrazin.
