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2000 points? Odermatt in the footsteps of Hermann Maier

2000 points?  Odermatt in the footsteps of Hermann Maier
Marco Odermatt returned to Europe with a Super-G win at Aspen.
Credit: APA/Getty Images via AFP/GETTY IMAGES/SEAN M HAFFEY

After the trip to the US, Marco Odermatt’s second overall World Cup victory is not yet mathematically certain. The Swiss ski star managed his lead in Palisades Tahoe and Aspen like a champion and ticked off the first sub-goal on Sunday by winning the Super-G ball. His rival Aleksander Aamodt Kilde declared him champion on Sunday.

But will Odermatt also crack Hermann Maier’s magical 2000 point mark? He is still 374 points short of reaching the mark of exactly 2000 points in a World Cup season set by Maier in 1999/2000 and which has not been reached since then. Odermatt is likely to contest five more races – in addition to one downhill run and one super-G, three giant slalom runs that he loves. Two of them will be held in Kranjska Gora next weekend, where the 25-year-old also serves as the discipline leader (100 points ahead of Henrik Kristoffersen) – and could do everything in terms of the overall World Cup. Already after third place in the Aspen-Super-G, Kilde announced that he would not start at the Podkoren. Even a 16th place would be enough for Odermatt.

“Yeah, looks like it,” said Kilde when asked if things had gone well given the 386-point deficit. “Marco is so strong in every race.” The big ball for Odermatt would be deserved, so Kilde. “What a season he’s had!” Odermatt himself smiled, but did not start the party mode publicly. He wants to keep his access as before the Super-G. “I just wanted to have fun and enjoy the race, I wasn’t counting points.”

The Swiss said of the Maier brand: “Heard it a lot, but not a real goal for me. A few races were also canceled, I missed three races due to injury. If everything had worked out, it might have been possible, but it’s missing like this many more points. Let’s see.” Odermatt won his first title last year with 1639 points, Marcel Hirscher came close to the record of 2015/16 with 1795 points.

If the season goes as usual, Odermatt will soon join an Austro trio in another record statistic. He now has nine wins of the season. Only Marcel Hirscher (13, 2017/18), Hermann Maier (13, 2000/01) and Stephan Eberharter (10, 2001/02) have managed ten or more in this century. He has been the solo record holder in Super-G since Sunday: He was the first alpine athlete to celebrate five wins this season in the other discipline that has won many races.

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: Nachrichten

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