Sawt Falasteen - Odermatt seals giant slalom crown with Aspen win

The 26-year-old Swiss ace took the giant slalom crown after clocking a combined time of 2min 7.87sec to pip compatriot Loic Meillard by 0.14sec in Aspen, Colorado.

Norway's Atle Lie McGrath finished third, 0.81 behind Odermatt, who clinched his third overall crown last weekend with victory in the giant slalom at Palisades Tahoe in California.

Odermatt, who won the last three giant slaloms of the 2022-2023 season, is a perfect 8-0 in the event this year. Friday's win left him with 800 points, an unassailable 470 points clear of Croatia's Filip Zubcic.

"I think it was the most difficult victory of the season," the Swiss world number one said after Friday's win, revealing that he "didn't feel very good" at the start of the race.

With the overall and giant slalom crowns now secured, Odermatt remains on course to win two more titles.

The Swiss leads the standings in the downhill and super G categories.

He is also on track to complete a clean sweep in the giant slalom if he wins the three remaining giant slaloms left on the calendar -- a feat not achieved since Swedish legend Ingemar Stenmark in the 1978-1979 season.

"Of course I'm thinking about it, it would be great," Odermatt admitted on Friday before cautioning: "But even for tomorrow, I don't know what the level of my batteries will be. It takes so much energy for me to be focused every race."

With 12 wins in all disciplines this season, Odermatt could also eclipse his record-equalling tally of 13 set last year which he shares with Stenmark (1979) and Austrian duo Hermann Maier (2001) and Marcel Hirscher (2018).

Z.AlNajjar--SF-PST