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Odermatt sets sights on Olympic giant slalom -- and gold / Photo: Fabrice COFFRINI - AFP
Odermatt sets sights on Olympic giant slalom -- and gold
Marco Odermatt is the self-proclaimed leader of the Swiss men's team, but Olympic gold in Bormio has so far eluded the all-rounder, who has set his sights on rectifying that in Saturday's giant slalom.
The Swiss team has dominated the men's alpine skiing events in Bormio, Franjo von Allmen winning three golds in the downhill, super-G and team combined (along with Tanguy Nef).
Von Allmen's performances put him in the pantheon of Olympic men's alpine skiing greats who have won three events at one Games. Only Austrian Toni Sailer, at the 1956 Winter Games, and France's Jean-Claude Killy in 1968, have achieved the feat.
Odermatt had to be content with bronze in the super-G and silver alongside Loic Meillard in the team combined after coming fourth in the opening downhill.
"There are not so many things to be frustrated about," insisted Odermatt, with the Swiss men's team having won five of the nine medals on offer thus far.
"I did good skiing – not my very best, but if you do so many races, if you want to fight and win and want to have everything, it's not too easy to always be on it 100%.
"I did three good races actually. I've got fourth, third and second place. That is not very bad."
Odermatt admitted, however, that there was a degree of frustration after his super-G bronze.
"It's great to have another medal. That was the goal, but sure, the big goal was to win gold," the 28-year-old said.
"I wasn't fast enough again. Some little mistakes, and at this level that's just not enough."
- 'Last chance' -
Odermatt is the reigning Olympic giant slalom champion and is currently the runaway leader in the overall World Cup standings.
"It's another race. Another last chance for me to win gold," he said of the giant slalom.
He won the season-opening giant slalom in Soelden and also claimed victories in Beaver Creek and Adelboden.
His Swiss teammate Meillard has notched up two victories, in Val d'Isere and Schladming, while Austria's Marco Schwarz won in Alta Badia and Stefan Brennsteiner topped the podium in Copper Mountain.
Norwegian-born Brazilian Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, as well as former teammates Henrik Kristoffersen and Atle Lie McGrath of Norway, should also be in the running for a push at a podium finish.
Braathen, racing for his mother's homeland of Brazil after falling out with the Norwegian ski federation, has two second-placed finishes this season and the showman has his sights firmly on a medal in Bormio.
"There's no doubt that the two highest achievements in alpine ski racing are Olympic gold and an overall globe," said the racer who won the slalom in the Finnish resort of Levi in November to seal a maiden World Cup victory for Brazil.
"They both represent who is truly the best in their sport, but I think they're different achievements.
"I'm hunting both those two achievements."
A.Cano--HdM
