Swiss dominant Marco Odermatt claimed a fourth Crystal Globe of the season after the final downhill of the campaign in the Austrian winter center of Saalbach, which was also the men's season finale, was called off due to poor weather conditions.
There was serious intrigue at the last start, as Odermatt had a 42-point lead over Cyprien Sarrazin of France, who had a great season, but the downhill never started. The race was scheduled to start at 12:15 Bulgarian time, but in the end, about an hour and a half later, the International Federation of Alpine Skiing (FIS) decided to cancel the race due to wind and snowfall over Saalbach.
The decision allowed Odermatt to maintain his lead at the top of the standings. In this way, the Swiss added to the Crystal Globes he had already won in the general, Super-G and giant slalom. Manuel Feller, the representative of Austria, became the champion in slalom.
For Odermatt, this is the first Crystal Globe in the downhill discipline. Last year, he finished third in the final standings. It is curious that the 26-year-old skier from Switzerland is seeing an increase in Crystal Globes won every year, after grabbing two in 2022, three in 2023 and now as many as four. /BGNES
