Odermatt clinches downhill World Cup title after final race scrapped

Switzerland's Marco Odermatt clinched a first career downhill World Cup trophy and a fourth overall in one season without skiing when the final downhill race was cancelled on Sunday in Austria.

Overnight snowfall, piste problems and high winds did not make racing possible in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, with the cancellation coming after two delays and all efforts in vain to make the last 2023-24 race happen.

The cancellation means that Odermatt retained his 42-point lead over French skier Cyprien Sarrazin to win the discipline trophy.

Odermatt won the downhill world title last year but only managed his first career World Cup wins in the speed event this term with two top spots on Swiss home ground in Wengen.

He also had four further podium finishes from eight races contested in a season that saw seven races cancelled and only two of them rescheduled.

"For sure it’s very strange to win a globe after such a tight battle with Cyprien. It’s a good decision for sure from my side, but I think as well for the sport it was a fair decision. But we would have liked to battle it out,” Odermatt said.

“It was a strange season with some cancellations but we had a very good January and February, high quality races, very cool medals, and if you are leader going into the final week, you deserve the globe."

Odermatt had clinched a third straight overall title several weeks ago and also won the super-g and giant slalom globes. He had 13 victories across all disciplines and 20 podiums.

He is the first man since Austrian Hermann Maier in 2001 to win four trophies in one season, and the fourth overall. Mikaela Shiffrin achieved it on the women's side in 2019.

Odermatt said joining these legends was "something very special.

“I spoke to Hermann two years ago in summer, when I won my first globes and he told me it is cool when you can’t hold all the globes. So I think this will be a good feeling," he said.

Compatriot Lara Gut-Behrami came close to achieving the same fate on the women's side, but was beaten for the downhill crown by Austrian Cornelia Hütter on Saturday, after taking the overall, super-g and giant slalom titles.

The slalom titles went to Shiffrin and Austrian Manuel Feller, respectively.