Loic Meillard, Marco Odermatt, and Thomas Tumler celebrate a 1-2-3 victory in the Giant Slalom in Hafjell. The Swiss were in a league of their own. They finished within 23 hundredths of a second, while all other competitors lost almost six-tenths or more to Meillard. Lucas Pinheiro Braathen finished in fourth position 0.56 seconds behind the winner.
This set a new record for the Swiss Team with 40 podium finishes this winter (15 wins, 13 second places, and 12 third places). They have never achieved so many podium finishes before. The previous record of 38 podium finishes dates back to the 1984-1985 winter season.
For the third time this season, the Swiss sweeps the podium in the World Cup, but for the first time in the Giant Slalom. The Swiss Teamhave only achieved this once before in this discipline: in 1983, Pirmin Zurbriggen led a Swiss triple victory in Adelboden.
"I felt good. I knew what to do, I knew on what to focus and I know also that it's a slope where you have to work all the time. A simple mistake can cost a lot so I just tried to give it all, tried to always do the same movement with the right technique and it paid off," Meillard said.
With today's second place Marco Odermatt secured the Overall and Giant Slalom Crystal Globes. He has won the last four Giant Slalom Crystal Globes. In the 35 Giant Slalom World Cup races Odermatt has competed in since the start of the 2021-2022 season, the Swiss skier has won 24. Only Marcel Hirscher (31 wins) and Stenmark (46 wins) are in front of him on the all-time men’s Giant Slalom win list.
Last week, he clinched his third consecutive Super-G Crystal Globe and is also leading the Downhill standings with only one race left at the Finals in Sun Valley.
Odermatt, with 87 World Cup podiums, has overtaken Pirmin Zurbriggen on the list for the most Swiss men's World Cup podiums across all disciplines.
"I just won my fourth Globe in a row in Giant Slalom, so that was definitely something I can be happy about and not be sad about the second place. I'm very happy with my race. I struggled a little bit with my Giant Slalom skiing. I couldn't find the same flow as I had last year," Odermatt said.
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