Race favorites – Shock in Sölden: Odermatt is eliminated, Meillard is not at the start – Sport

From the Swiss point of view, the men’s giant slalom in Sölden started with the worst case scenario.

For Marco Odermatt, the first race of the season was over early. The favorite’s appearance on the Rettenbach Glacier lasted only 40 seconds. After last year’s overall World Cup winner opened the giant slalom with start number 1, everything initially went according to plan.

But then he made a fatal mistake on the steep slope: Odermatt sailed towards a red gate a little too straight and as a result got stuck with his inside ski. There was nothing left to spare. The race was over for last season. Odermatt was last eliminated in the first race in February 2021.

Two failures in a row

For Odermatt, winter begins where the last one ended. After winning 13 giant slaloms in a row, he was eliminated from the World Cup final in Saalbach. Now followed the second in a row at the overture of the season.

“Maybe I was a little too motivated,” Odermatt said in the interview afterwards. But he took it out with composure. “That’s already been checked,” said the 27-year-old. He felt very good and rode very well on top. “But it was a little unnecessary to risk so much in the first run,” he said, self-critically.

To illustrate: At the second intermediate time, Odermatt was 7 tenths faster than Alexander Steen Olsen, who set the best time in the first run and also won in the end.

Meillard didn’t even start

Loïc Meillard was someone who could stand in for Odermatt. However, the Valaisian had to start at short notice. World Cup runner-up and best giant slalom rider last season behind Odermatt suffered a blow to his back while driving in. The pain prevented me from racing. «It hurt me a lot. But you can’t go skiing if you’re not fit,” he later reported via audio message.