LOS ANGELES (United States) — At 34, Stefan Brennsteiner secured his maiden World Cup victory, dominating the men’s giant slalom at Copper Mountain in Colorado as Swiss star Marco Odermatt crashed out in the first run.
The Austrian capitalised on Olympic champion Odermatt’s early exit, crossing the finish line with a commanding 0.95-second lead.
“It means a lot for me,” Brennsteiner said according to AP. “The last years were quite good, but I’ve had tough times in my career.”
Norwegian veteran Henrik Kristoffersen finished second, visibly struggling with the high-altitude conditions at nearly 3,000 metres (9,850 feet). Croatia’s Filip Zubcic climbed from 13th after the first run to claim third with a fast second-leg performance, one second behind the winner.
Brennsteiner had held a slim 0.26-second lead after the opening run but extended it on the rougher second-run snow. As his closest rivals fell behind, he maintained his advantage despite registering only the 11th fastest time in the second run.
Odermatt, a 27-time World Cup giant slalom winner over the past five years, failed to complete a GS race for the first time since December at nearby Beaver Creek.
The Swiss star lost control of his inside ski at a right-hand gate while on pace for the fastest first run on a crisp, clear Colorado day.
The rare misstep came a day after Odermatt won the super-G, marking back-to-back victories this season as he seeks a fifth consecutive overall World Cup title.
Brennsteiner had four prior World Cup podiums, all in giant slalom, including a runner-up finish in March 2022 at Kranjska Gora, Slovenia.
Copper Mountain now turns its attention to the women’s circuit, led by record 103-time World Cup winner Mikaela Shiffrin.
Odermatt started the World Cup super-G season with a win at Copper Mountain, while Aleksander Aamodt Kilde reduced fiancée Shiffrin to tears by making his comeback after nearly two years out.
Odermatt has already won the opening giant slalom – at Solden in the Austrian Alps last month – in what is an ominous start to the season by the world´s best men´s skier leading up to the Milan Cortina Olympic Games in February.
“I crossed the finish line and I was like, that was not too bad. I hoped the feeling matched the time,” Odermatt said. “So, I had a great run from the top to the bottom, I had a good plan in my mind and happy with my performance.”
Odermatt, the defending overall champion, has won the crystal globe for the season-long title in super-G for the past three years.
For much of that time, Kilde – the 2020 overall champion and winner of 21 World Cup races – has been on the sidelines because of the effects of injuries sustained in a horrifying downhill crash in January 2024.
Nearly 700 days later, Kilde was back racing – and it was all too much for Shiffrin, the US skiing great, who was in the crowd and weeping as he crossed the line 1.25 seconds adrift of Odermatt.
The 33-year-old Kilde wound up tied for 24th place and was given a big hug by the emotional Shiffrin minutes after getting down the hill. She later took a photo of Kilde with Odermatt, who was congratulating the Norwegian on his return to competition.
