Marco Odermatt finished second behind Swiss teammate Loic Meillard in a World Cup giant slalom Saturday to formally lock up his fourth straight overall and GS titles.
The only remaining challenger for the overall title, Henrik Kristoffersen, needed to finish the race at Hafjell, Norway, well ahead of Odermatt to keep his mathematical chance alive, but the Norwegian finished in 16th place.
Odermatt extended his lead to 635 points over Kristoffersen in the overall standings with only five events remaining.
Clinching the title was a formality since Kristoffersen doesn't compete in speed events, though the Norwegian would have the right to start in super-G and downhill at the World Cup finals in Sun Valley, Idaho, which begin next weekend.
The result also gave Odermatt an insurmountable lead in the GS standings, where runner-up Kristoffersen is trailing by 106 points with only the season-ending race at the finals remaining.
Odermatt started the season with two DNF's in giant slalom, leaving him on zero points after two races, but won three times in the course of the season.
Odermatt became the sixth skier in men's World Cup history with at least four overall titles, but only the second to win four in a row. Austrian standout Marcel Hirscher won a record eight consecutive titles in 2012-19.
WATCH | Meillard wins giant slalom, Swiss teammate Odermatt wraps up season titles:
Loic Meillard wins giant slalom in Hajfell, Swiss teammate Marco Odermatt wraps up season titles
It has become typical for Odermatt to lock up the overall title even before the season-ending races at the World Cup finals.
His point-advantages in the final standings only grew over the years, from leading runner-up Aleksander Aamodt Kilde by 467 and 702
Read more on cbc.ca
cbc.ca
