HAFJELL, Norway (AP) — Marco Odermatt finished second behind Swiss teammate Loic Meillard in a World Cup giant slalom Saturday to formally lock up his fourth straight overall and GS titles.
The only remaining challenger for the overall title, Henrik Kristoffersen, needed to finish the race well ahead of Odermatt to keep his mathematical chance alive, but the Norwegian finished in 16th place.
Odermatt extended his lead to 635 points over Kristoffersen in the overall standings with only five events remaining.
Clinching the title was a formality since Kristoffersen doesn’t compete in speed events, though the Norwegian would have the right to start in super-G and downhill at the World Cup finals in Sun Valley, Idaho, which begin next weekend.
The result also gave Odermatt an insurmountable lead in the GS standings, where runner-up Kristoffersen is trailing by 106 points with only the season-ending race at the finals remaining.
Odermatt started the season with two DNF's in giant slalom, leaving him on zero points after two races, but won three times in the course of the season.
Odermatt became the sixth skier in men’s World Cup history with at least four overall titles, but only the second to win four in a row. Austrian standout Marcel Hirscher won a record eight consecutive titles in 2012-19.
It has become typical for Odermatt to lock up the overall title even before the season-ending races at the World Cup finals.
His point-advantages in the final standings only grew over the years, from leading runner-up Aleksander Aamodt Kilde by 467 and 702 points, respectively, in his first two years as overall champion, to beating Meillard by 874 points last season.
Odermatt already secured the super-G championship last week and is favorite to add the downhill title as well. Winning four globes would mean a repeat of his achievement from last season.
On Saturday, Meillard led a Swiss sweep of the podium, leading Odermatt by 0.14 seconds and third-place Thomas Tumler by 0.23.
River Ramadus finished seventh to match his best result of the season from a giant slalom in Beaver Creek, Colorado in December.
World champion Raphael Haaser had a nasty crash when the Austrian straddled a gate, went airborne and landed on his upper back. He was attended to by medics and got up with a bloodied face before sliding down to the finish area on one ski.
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AP skiing: https://apnews.com/alpine-skiing
The Associated Press
