Marco Odermatt Wins Alpine Ski World Cup Opener in Soelden
- Raúl Revuelta
- Oct 26
- 3 min read
Updated: Oct 28
Marco Odermatt kicked off the new season with another victory in the Men's Alpine Ski World Cup Opener in Soelden. The 28-year-old Swiss skier, who has won at the Rettenbach Glacier three times (in 2021, 2022, and 2025), is now tied with Hermann Maier for the most wins in Sölden. Ted Ligety holds the record with four victories, having won in 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2015.
Marco Schwarz finished in second place, 0.24 seconds behind. Atle Lie McGrath took third place, finishing 0.27 seconds behind, after moving up four positions thanks to a great second run.
Marco Odermatt has achieved 27 victories in Giant Slalom Alpine Ski World Cup races, ranking him third on the all-time list, behind Ingemar Stenmark with 46 wins and Marcel Hirscher with 31 wins. It was Odermatt's 8th consecutive Giant Slalom podium finish.
Last season, Odermatt won the Giant Slalom Alpine Ski World Cup Crystal Globe for the fourth consecutive time.
With 46 wins and 89 podium finishes across all disciplines (43 in Giant Slalom, 25 in Super-G, and 21 in Downhill), Odermatt holds the record for the most World Cup podiums by a Swiss male skier. He now has the same number of victories as Marc Girardelli from Luxembourg, making them joint number 5 in the all-time rankings.
"It's the perfect way to start a new season. You invest so much during the summer, yet you never really know where you stand until the first race. This result is great for building confidence as I begin the season. It's truly a perfect start," Odermatt said.
Marco Schwarz returned to the Giant Slalom podium after two years. His last podium finish was in Alta Badia in December 2023. The 30-year-old Austrian skier made his comeback after a serious injury. At the end of 2023, he was leading the overall World Cup standings when a crash in Bormio resulted in a torn cruciate ligament. He spent nearly a year sidelined but showed promising signs of recovery last season, despite it being a hard and painful time. He struggled a lot and felt the most pressure from himself.
This is the sixth time in his career that he has finished on the podium in a Giant Slalom event, marking his 24th Alpine Ski World Cup podium. "It was a long journey to return to the podium. Last year was extremely challenging for me; I experienced a lot of pain and faced significant struggles. I put a great deal of pressure on myself during that time. However, this year, by mid-summer, I was almost free of pain, and I regained the joy of training. That made all the difference," Schwarz said.
Austria celebrates another impressive result on its national holiday following Julia Scheib's victory, with Schwarz finishing second, Stefan Brennsteiner fourth, and World Champion Raphael Haaser, who had the fastest time in the second run, placing sixth.
With Schwarz back in his old form, the Austrian Men's team will be more successful than last season, when Lukas Feurstein secured his team's only Alpine Ski World Cup victory of the season in the Super-G at Sun Valley.
Like last season, Atle Lie McGrath is again on the Sölden podium in third place. It's his fourth World Cup podium finish in the Giant Slalom. "After a pretty passive first run, I was really happy with how I executed and skied during the second run. It's really fun to be back on the podium," he said.
"I've learned from last season that one podium finish doesn't mean you're on top of the world; instead, it means you need to work even harder. However, it's awesome to start the season this way", he added.
Following the traditional opening event of the Alpine Ski World Cup in Soelden, the next Men's Giant Slalom is scheduled to take place in Copper Mountain, Colorado (USA) on 28 November.
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