Marco Odermatt is without doubt one of the greatest favorites heading into the boys’s World Cup season opener in Sölden, Austria, on October 27, after successful his third consecutive World Cup total title in 2024 and the enormous slalom, super-G, and downhill self-discipline globes. Based on current reviews, he’s stronger than ever. Here’s a peak into the Swiss high skier’s pre-season preparations.
The day after the ladies open the 2024/25 World Cup tour on October 26 on the demanding Rettenbach glacier course, Odermatt will struggle for this season’s first males’s big slalom victory within the mountains excessive above Sölden.
Odermatt, representing Ski Membership Hergiswil, will compete in opposition to thrilling contenders like returning star Lucas Braathen (Brazil), big slalom specialists Filip Zubčić (Croatia), and Žan Kranjec (Slovenia), final season’s slalom globe winner Manuel Feller (Austria), Norwegians Henrik Kristoffersen, Timon Haugan and Atle Lie McGrath, Swiss teammates Loïc Meillard, Gino Caviezel and Thomas Tumler, amongst others. Hopefully, the beginning listing will embrace Marcel Hirscher, snowboarding for the Netherlands.
Multi-discipline racers Marco Schwarz, Austria, and Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, Norway, aren’t competing attributable to accidents.
Swiss General Dominance?
Throughout an early-October press convention, Odermatt pointed to Meillard as his strongest competitor for the upcoming season’s World Cup total globe. Meillard completed second within the 2024 General Cup and the Big Slalom Self-discipline Cup.
Odermatt and Meillard are three-discipline racers. Each compete in big slalom and super-G. Odermatt can be a powerful downhill racer, and Meillard makes his mark within the slalom self-discipline.
What preparations does Odermatt convey into this season to defend his titles?
New Bodily Conditioning Coach
Odermatt misplaced his earlier bodily coach, Austrian Kurt Kothbauer, in March. They’d labored collectively since 2016, and Kothbauer helped construct Odermatt’s muscular physique. After their lengthy and profitable partnership, Kothbauer selected to maneuver on and is now the bodily coach for Odermatt’s competitor, Braathen.
Following this, the Swiss teammates Odermatt, Murisier and Caviezel started working with Alejo Hervas. Hervas is a distinguished bodily coach throughout the World Cup circuit.
Beforehand, Hervas labored with one other Swiss celebrity till March 2024, specifically two-time World Cup total winner (2016 and 2024) Lara Intestine-Behrami, who additionally received the 2024 big slalom and super-G self-discipline globes.
The change was seen. When Intestine-Behrami heard rumors that Hervas deliberate a change after the season, the profitable veteran skier despatched Hervas residence in the course of the World Cup Finals.
“The idea of belief between Lara and Alejo now not exists. That led to the separation,” SwissSki Alpine Director Hans Flatscher informed the Swiss broadcaster SRF afterward.
The Course of
Based on a Blick.ch interview throughout Odermatt and Murisier’s first spring exercise with Hervas, the Swiss males had mentioned working with Hervas in cooperation with Intestine-Behrami. Murisier, who was looking out for a brand new bodily coach final spring, informed Blick.ch:
“I’ve had nice contact with Alejo over the previous couple of years. We met and thought: Why not work with Lara if she continues to race?” Then, as Kothbauer moved on, Odermatt and Caviezel additionally wanted a bodily coach.
When requested concerning the state of affairs in the course of the Blick.ch interview, Odermatt mentioned no one likes to lose a major particular person from their environment. He continued: “Then again, we are able to say from our facet that we behaved appropriately. We initially thought of working collectively (with Lara).” Nevertheless, the state of affairs developed otherwise, Odermatt defined.
Stronger Than Ever
Odermatt informed Blick.ch that he’ll at all times convey with him the information gained from his earlier coach, Kothbauer, and that he’s comparatively relaxed relating to his long-time bodily coach shifting on:
“In the event you really feel that you just want a change for your self or the athlete, you respect that.”
Now, Odermatt is bodily stronger than ever after a summer time of coaching with Hervas.
Based on the newest power and endurance exams, Odermatt has improved his outcomes by 3% since final summer time (2023), Blick.ch reported on September 29.
“Kurti Kothbauer has laid a incredible basis for Marco within the areas of power and conditioning lately. With new inputs, Alejo is getting much more out of Odi,” the enormous slalom head coach for SwissSki, Helmut Krug, mentioned, in line with Blick.ch.
Wanting a Particular Victory
Making Odermatt a greater skier than earlier than may seem to be a tough job. The 27-year-old has received virtually every part in alpine snowboarding: 37 World Cup victories, an Olympic gold medal in big slalom, two World Championship golds in downhill and big slalom, and 5 World Junior Championship gold medals.
With 71 World Cup podiums in 149 begins, he has a podium charge of virtually 50%.
Nevertheless, one victory is lacking, which drives Odermatt’s main purpose for this season: successful the Kitzbühel downhill!
Successful the Kitzbühel downhill!
He barely missed the highest of the rostrum in 2024 when he positioned second and third within the two Kitzbühel World Cup downhills. You might need seen Odermatt’s nice pleasure when crossing the end line with a 2.22-second lead within the Kitzbühel downhill on Saturday, January 20, solely to be crushed by the following racer, Cyprien Sarrazin. The Frenchman executed an astonishing run, beating Odermatt by 0.91 seconds and capturing the victory.
After final season’s many accidents amongst males’s and girls’s World Cup skiers, velocity occasion racers and FIS Chief Race Director Markus Waldner demanded change. The end result: In the course of the 2024/25 season, there can be just one downhill race per weekend, and the emphasis will return to the traditional downhill competitors at places like Kitzbühel and Wengen.
So, in 2025, Odermatt can be targeted on Saturday, January 25, the date for the difficult race down Kitzbühel’s “die Streif” and the prospect to attain his nice purpose: successful what is taken into account essentially the most vital downhill victory of all.
Nice Ski Coaching Circumstances
To win, you could put together, together with getting the mandatory time on snow.
After the World Cup season ended final spring, Odermatt hung out snowboarding in Kvitfjell, Norway. Then, in April, he loved visiting his residence ski space, the Titlis Bergbahnen, to inaugurate a ski path receiving Odermatt’s title, the “Marco-Odermatt-Piste Rotegg.” The ski space named the high-mountain ski run after Odermatt to honor him and his excellent outcomes in the course of the 2023/24 season. Odermatt educated and raced within the Titlis ski space as a younger boy, and he clearly loved snowboarding down the demanding hill after it acquired his title.
Later in the summertime, it was time to strap on the ski coaching gear as soon as once more.
Nevertheless, after FIS eliminated the Zermatt/Cervinia World Cup downhills from the 2024/25 calendar, Zermatt Bergbahnen determined to exclude elite ski groups from gate coaching in the course of the 2024 summer time season.
With out their often-used summer time coaching grounds above Zermatt, SwissSki needed to look elsewhere. Based on media reviews, throughout their pre-season preparations, Odermatt and his teammates loved good ski coaching situations in Saas-Charge, Switzerland, Ushuaia, Argentina, and Diavolezza, Switzerland.
Odermatt tells Ski Racing Media that he feels ready for the season: “We’ve been to South America earlier than and we all know Saas-Charge and Diavolezza from earlier years, too. We had been in a position to just about observe our coaching schedule.”
Latest Shock
Nevertheless, conditions can change rapidly. Shortly after their return from South America, and solely weeks earlier than the World Cup opening races, Niels Hintermann and the Swiss crew acquired the surprising information that Hintermann has most cancers. Fortunately, medical doctors imagine the most cancers will be handled and that Hintermann will be capable to return to ski racing sooner or later.
After the information, Odermatt informed Blick.ch: “I had loads of enjoyable with Niels initially of final week once we posed collectively at a photograph shoot for a (SwissSki) affiliation sponsor—we laughed loads collectively. That’s why the information of his sickness comes as an entire shock to me; it’s an actual shock. And at this second, I notice as soon as once more that it’s ridiculous to complain a few twinge in my again in comparison with such a analysis.”
Hectic October
Throughout a busy week in early October, Odermatt and teammates hung out selling sponsors throughout SwissSki actions, met with the press, and attended the Zurich Movie Competition.
The launch of the Descente Marco Odermatt ski clothes assortment additionally befell at the beginning of October. Descente and Odermatt collaborate in designing ski garments which are aimed toward interesting to a youthful era of skiers. This yr’s assortment contains an orange ski jacket and matching ski pants. Coincidentally, orange can be the normal shade for Dutch nationwide sports activities groups’ uniforms.
In the course of the Odermatt assortment launch get together, the Swiss ski star laughingly refuted that the orange refers to returning eight-time World Cup total winner Hirscher, now competing for the Netherlands. “The selection of shade was made lengthy earlier than Hirscher introduced his comeback,” Odermatt defined, in line with Kleinreport.ch.
Time for Snowboarding
Lastly, Odermatt and the Swiss crew may return to snowboarding with the promotional work out of the best way—the October preparations main into the Sölden opener have primarily taken place in Switzerland. Then they head to the hectic and thrilling environment on the Rettenbach glacier and within the streets of Sölden, the place 1000’s of followers put together to begin the get together whereas Odermatt and his rivals give attention to their duties on and off the snow.
The media and ski followers eagerly debate whether or not Hirscher and Braathen will beat Odermatt once they return to World Cup racing below new flags. In the meantime, Kleinreport.ch reported in early October that Odermatt stays targeted on the principle job forward:
“I’ve to beat everybody at the beginning—no matter whether or not they’re racing for Austria, Norway, the Netherlands or Brazil.”
Sources: SwissSki, Blick, Klein Report, Laola1, Descente, Zurich Movie Competition, SRF, Eurosport, NBC Sports activities, Snow Business Information, FIS, Marco Odermatt’s social media, and Justin Murisier’s social media.
