Swiss Alpine Skiing superstar Marco Odermatt triumphed on Friday (23 January), claiming a second consecutive Super-G World Cup victory on the iconic Streif in Kitzbühel, Austria.
On the most famous track on the circuit, the reigning world champion confirmed his strong form ahead of the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, securing his eighth win of the season and his second in Super-G.
Starting 13th, Odermatt built a solid advantage through the more technical upper section, but lost a significant portion of that margin in the lower part of the course following an imperfect landing. The three-time reigning Super-G World Cup champion ultimately stopped the clock at 1:08.41, just three hundredths of a second clear of teammate Franjo von Allmen, who finished second to claim his first podium on the Streif.
A week after finishing runner-up in Wengen, Austrian Stefan Babinsky completed the podium in third (+0.25) after an aggressive, high-risk run on home snow.
“Not a perfect (run), I would say. I had a very good start and a very good finish, but in the middle this left-footer in the Lärchenschuss, also the Hausberg (fall), wasn’t exactly how I planned it. Still, I somehow managed to let the skis go and carry those three hundredths to the finish line,” said the winner to Eurosport, after his performance in front of his idol Didier Cuche, who was among the many skiing legends in attendance.
“At first, I was disappointed. Yesterday I went to bed thinking I’d go for gold, but it’s Marco, so another Swiss guy on the podium. It’s just another couple of hundredths of a second. I take it; I’m very happy with it!” said von Allmen.
Following his 17th career World Cup Super-G victory, Odermatt extended his lead in the discipline standings to 425 points, with Austria’s Vincent Kriechmayr (seventh on Friday, 267 points) and Stefan Babinsky (243) sitting second and third, respectively.
The Nidwalden native is also on course to claim his fifth overall Crystal Globe, leading the standings with 1,205 points, 587 clear of second-placed Lucas Pinheiro Braathen.
Kitzbühel will host the Hahnenkamm Classic downhill on Saturday, followed by the slalom on Sunday.