Old record missed

Ski finale! Men’s giant slalom from 9 am LIVE

Marco Odermatt drops out of the Saalbach final(Bild: APA/AFP/Joe Klamar, Screenshot ORF)

So he's only human after all. Switzerland's Marco Odermatt dropped out of the giant slalom in Saalbach on Saturday as the leader in the second run and thus squandered a perfect season. He missed out on his tenth triumph in the tenth RTL of the season. 

Switzerland's Loic Meillard won on a salt slope ahead of Joan Verdu from Andorra (+0.71 sec.) and his compatriot Thomas Tumler (+0.79). Stefan Brennsteiner finished fourth and achieved his best result of the season. Odermatt missed Ingemar Stenmark's age-old record. The Swede had won ten out of ten giant slaloms in the 1978/79 World Cup winter.

Before Meillard, the last giant slalom winner not named Odermatt was Carinthian Marco Schwarz on February 25, 2023 in Palisades Tahoe. Odermatt had won twelve times in a row over the course of the season. He won the giant slalom crystal with a 432-point lead over Meillard, while the best Austrian in the discipline rankings was Feller in ninth place.

Odermatt: "Unnecessary mistake"
"Of course the negative emotions are dominating at the moment, that's clear, we're all athletes who want to win. If you want to win, you have to take risks. Then a mistake can happen. An unnecessary one," said Odermatt. The pressure did not play a role, he was not nervous, but fully motivated. In view of the weather forecast with rain, he will not train much in the coming days before the two speed races are on the program.

Loic Meillard(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Winner Meillard thought his compatriot's elimination was a "shame", but after so many podium finishes it was certainly bearable. He himself was happy that he had managed to turn his performance around over the course of the season. It was the 27-year-old's fourth career success.

Here is the final score:

Brennsteiner, from Salzburg, spoke of a committed ride with a few small mistakes. He has a lot to do for next season. "I need a bit of a broader spectrum. My skiing also has to work on really hard, icy slopes. I will try to work on that so that I remain more stable." He said of Odermatt: "Today has shown that he is also human. Apparently he's not extraterrestrial after all. It's amazing what he's achieved as a human being."

Stefan Brennsteiner(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Feller: "Not fish, not meat"
Feller, who finished in tenth place (+1.50), had mixed feelings: "Not fish, not meat. I didn't quite trust myself to wait for the turns in the first run. The left turn in particular was always too early. The second run was a step in the right direction," said the Tyrolean. There was a lot of work to do over the summer. He wants to be ready for the slalom and giant slalom at his home World Championships.

Haaser eliminated
Only three Austrians were at the start in front of 12,000 spectators in the event hall, Raphael Haaser was eliminated in the second run. "A classic inner ski, that annoys me a bit. The goal would have been to put down a good run and finish the season reasonably okay. Now it's ended more or less as it started, which isn't satisfactory at all."