Odermatt returns to top step of podium in Birds of Prey super-G, Radamus takes eighth
Chris Dillmann/Vail Daily
BEAVER CREEK — Marco Odermatt entered Saturday’s super-G having finished second in his past three Birds of Prey World Cup races.
The streak wasn’t top of mind, however, when the Swiss superstar stepped into the starting gate.
“A second place is also very good, especially yesterday behind my teammate,” Odermatt said, referring to Justin Murisier’s downhill win on Friday.
But winning is still preferred.
“I knew what’s possible today,” the 27-year-old continued. “I love the super-G down here.”
On a day when five of the first seven racers went off course, he held nothing back on the upper section of the 607-meter slope. Even though he gave back some time in the third sector, the defending overall crystal globe champion still managed to secure a 0.18-second win, crossing the line in 1 minute, 9.41 seconds.
“I had a good plan in my mind,” he said after his 38th career World Cup victory. “After the inspection, I really knew it was going to be a tough one and obviously I saw all those guys who didn’t finish and that actually confirmed my plan that you have to ski smart and clean in the middle section.”
The left-to-right outside ski plant coming off The Screech Owl jump was a puzzle early skiers struggled to solve. Canadian Jeff Read — whose father, Ken, captured the country’s first World Cup downhill win in Val-d’Isère, France, in 1976 — had a good run going until he got a little too greedy.
“I know on this track you have to give it your all, you have to take risks,” Read said. “I went out there just pushing. I actually executed my plan and the hard section, just let it go a little too much. (There’s) no room for error.”
Edwards’ River Radamus leaned into his tech strength to navigate the terrain’s extra challenges, leading three Americans into the top-20 with an electrifying eighth-place finish.
“Especially when I’m here, on home soil and I know there’s so many people out there cheering for me — I want to live up to that potential,” the 26-year-old said after tying his career-best super-G result and claiming his ninth career World Cup top 10. “I want to put everything on the line and see what’s possible.”
He said his coaches and teammates said to leave some space coming into Screech Owl.
“It’s a really technical section, and you don’t want to sacrifice too much there,” he said. “But if you can stay ahead of it there, you can gain a lot on the back side.”
Ryan Cochran-Siegle — whose helmet and goggles twisted off his face after ramming into the second gate — finished 11th and Ski and Snowboard Club Vail alumnus Kyle Negomir was 19th.
“We’re definitely risking, trying to perform,” said Cochran-Siegle, who found positives in his strong close. “I had a couple mistakes both days, but knowing I also had some really good turns, too, the way I skied the bottom is reassuring. If I can ski that way, I can be competitive.”
After watching a pair of athletes DNF prior to his bib 12 start, Cyprien Sarrazin — who finished second to Odermatt in the season super-G standings last year — said he “was not that confident,” but derived confidence from the beta gained during inspection.
“I was like, no big deal, just (a) few turns to be smart and the rest, full gas,” the French skier said. Sarrazin nearly careened into the second gate, losing time in what would be just the 20th-best opening sector split, but no one skied faster from Screech Owl to Harrier. The outcome, however, would be decided at the bottom.
“I had the good line, and then I let too much pressure because I didn’t see the gate because of the shadow — and because of it, I was too straight,” Sarrazin said of the final pitch where he lost two-tenths to Odermatt en route to a runner-up finish. “We did the same race and he was faster at the last gates.”
In his Birds of Prey debut, Austria’s Lukas Feurstein (1:09.88) placed third to capture his first career podium.
“It feels amazing,” the 2021 Junior World giant slalom champion said. “(I) tried to risk everything because you have to, and it went pretty good.”
The athlete responsible for Odermatt’s string of third-place finishes, Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, watched Saturday’s races from Red Tail Stadium for the second day in a row.
“The experience he has now, he put it together,” Kilde said of Odermatt.
His countryman Fredrik Moeller carried the Norwegians with a career-best fourth-place finish. The 24-year-old said Kilde gave him a few tips during the downhill days earlier in the week.
“I just tried to do the same in the super-G, which paid off,” said Moeller, who’d never placed within the top-20 prior to Saturday. “Ski the way I know I can; being over the outside ski, skiing clean where I know I can and then be a bit smart where you have to.”
The men’s race weekend concludes with a giant slalom on Sunday at 10 a.m. Odermatt — who won the first 12 GS races on the World Cup circuit last year — is the favorite. With only one GS podium to his name, Sarrazin might not factor into the mix, but he appreciates going head-to-head with Odermatt anyway.
“Thanks to him, I skied better,” he said. “And he said to me that (because) of me, he skis better. That’s good — that’s what the sport should be.”
