Switzerland, Europe Brief News – Marco Odermatt became the first Swiss man to win the overall World Cup alpine skiing title since 2010 on Wednesday.
Odermatt, 24, who won the Olympic men’s giant slalom gold at the Beijing Winter Games last month, clinched the title by finishing second in the downhill in Courchevel behind Austria’s Vincent Kriechmayr.
The Swiss has an unassailable 359-point lead over Norwegian rival Aleksander Aamodt Kilde with three races in other disciplines left this season.
Kilde went on to win the overall downhill title by finishing fourth in Wednesday’s race.
The last Swiss man to win the overall title was Carlo Janka.
“It is a great feeling to get this big globe. It has been in the offing for a few weeks now, but now I am happy,” Odermatt said.
“I hope this is just the start of something, not the end. I’m still young and I have a few years ahead of me.”
Kilde, who is Shiffrin’s boyfriend, won the overall downhill title by finishing fourth in Wednesday’s race.
He broke the stranglehold of Beat Feuz, the newly crowed Olympic downhill champion from Switzerland who has won the title for the past four years.
“It’s hard to describe the feeling after being the most nervous I’ve ever been in my life,” Kilde said.
