Marco Odermatt takes first win at Solden as Roland Leitinger falls agonisingly short of maiden victory

Updated 24/10/2021 at 14:26 GMT

For a moment Austrian fans were on the edge of the seat as we nearly had one of the biggest shocks at Solden since Alice Robinson. Yet it wasn’t to be and instead it is Swiss superstar Marco Odermatt who gets the first win of the season and the third of his career in Giant Slalom. It is also the first time he has triumphed at Solden after finishing second last year.

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It wasn’t to be for the Austrian home fans as 30-year-old Roland Leitinger fell agonisingly short of his maiden World Cup victory, with Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt instead taking his first win as he triumphed in the Giant Slalom in Solden on Sunday.

Leitinger, a former World Championships silver medallist, stunned the field with a blistering opening run but he couldn’t quite match the pace set by the man who went before him, Odermatt.

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Instead he had to settle for his first ever podium, in front of the Austrian fans, whilst Odermatt took just the third Giant Slalom win of his career.

It’s the perfect start to the season for Odermatt, who has his sights set on the Overall title as his young career develops.

“Amazing, it was a long and hard summer, we trained so hard,” Odermatt said.

“Sölden is always special for me. Five years ago I scored my first World Cup points here. To start the season with a victory... 70 guys dreamed about that today,”

Slovenia’s Zan Kranjec rounded off the podium.

Elsewhere it was another great day for the US team with 23-year-old River Radamus putting in a great performance to briefly lead.

The American was eventually knocked out of the leader’s chair, although not before he entertained fans with his snow leopard hairstyle and mask, but he still took a memorable sixth place.

“Just to kick off the season,” he said of his hair between runs. “This one is from Chad Fleischer, American great speed skier from years past. So, it’s my tribute to him, it’s cool and it gets a lot of comments.”

The result marks his first top 10 in an individual World Cup event to go with Mikaela Shiffrin’s win and Nina O’Brien’s ninth-place on Saturday.

It was rising Norwegian star Lucas Braathen who put down the fastest run of the second leg, a welcome site for fans after his season was cut short in January due to a bad knee injury. He moved up 12 spots from the first run thanks to that performance to finish in seventh.

More to follow...

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