The Albany Gazette - Odermatt the 'fighter' revels in double world gold

After bagging the downhill title last weekend, the 25-year-old Swiss skier held his nerve for an entertaining victory in the giant slalom, an event in which he has won four of the six races on the World Cup circuit this season.

After two testing runs down L'Eclipse piste in Courchevel, Odermatt finished 0.32sec ahead of Swiss teammate Loic Meillard while Austria's Marco Schwarz claimed bronze to go with the silver he won in last week's alpine combined.

"I knew it was possible for me to win two titles here, but there's a big difference between possibilities and reality, so it's very cool," said Odermatt.

"It's another amazing day. It was definitely a hard one: a difficult hill, difficult snow, difficult light, difficult course set, especially in the first run.

"You have to really put in all you have. You have to push, you have to attack - I managed to do this nearly every time.

"I don't feel so nervous anymore so I just want to push because you never know what the guys behind you or in front of you will do, so you just have to attack and hope it's enough."

- Swiss support -

Odermatt, buoyed by a large Swiss contingent of fans in the stands, called his two weeks in the French Alps a "perfect world champs".

"It's always good to fight for the win, it doesn't matter how many races or which discipline," said the runaway World Cup overall leader.

"I don't have the best technique, I think I'm more the fighter, the full-on guy. That's ski racing, you don't have to be nicest on the slope, but the fastest!"

Odermatt acknowledged that there had been "more joy for sure to share the podium with a teammate" in reference to Meillard, someone with whom he said he enjoyed playing cards and tennis over their seven seasons together on the Swiss team.

Meillard himself said "it was amazing to be 1-2 for Switzerland", left thrilled by his second leg, in which he set the fastest time.

"It was a great fight and I am very happy with my second run, and to finish in second," he said.

"You never know what will happen when you cross the line, but I was very happy with the run. I have no regrets. The second run was rough, you were always a bit against the slope."

Schwarz had led after the first run, but said an error in the second had been costly.

"In the second run, I tried my best and to attack, but I made a mistake in the steep part," he said, praising Odermatt for his dominance of the giant slalom over the last two seasons.

(A.Lehmann--BBZ)