Alpine skiing-Odermatt wins men's overall World Cup for fifth year in a row

March 13 : Switzerland's Marco Odermatt clinched the overall men's Alpine skiing World Cup crystal globe for the fifth year in a row on Friday and the downhill title for the third successive season.

Odermatt knew he had retained the downhill globe before leaving the starting gate in Courchevel, France, after compatriot and sole rival Franjo von Allmen failed to score.

With one downhill remaining in Norway on March 21, the 28-year-old Odermatt has an insurmountable advantage over the triple gold medallist of 235 points in the speed standings.

Austria's Vincent Kriechmayr took the 100 points with his first win of the season, and first in downhill since 2022, 0.09 ahead of Italian Giovanni Franzoni in second place. Odermatt was third and 0.31 off the pace.

Von Allmen, a triple gold medallist at last month's Milano Cortina Olympics, skied out after starting 12th in a race brought forward from Saturday due to weather forecasts and that saw several lower-ranked skiers crash heavily into the catch fences. 

He needed to win but Odermatt, 14th out of the start hut, would have been champion regardless with a position of 10th or higher.

In the overall standings, Odermatt now leads Norwegian-born Brazilian Lucas Pinheiro Braathen by an insurmountable 632 points with six races remaining.

That outcome was a formality since Pinheiro Braathen, the 2026 Olympic giant-slalom champion, is a technical skier who does not compete in downhill.

ODERMATT ENJOYS ANOTHER "AMAZING DAY"

"An amazing day for me once again," Odermatt told FIS television. "Super happy with my race today with another podium. To secure those globes once again early ... means you are far ahead and that makes it even more special today.

"All the tracks (pistes) are totally different