Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt beats Norwegian rival Aleksander Aamodt Kilde at the World Cup super-G

Marco Odermatt had missed the last two World Cup events with knee pain, but returned in style at Cortina d’Ampezzo, beating long-time rival Aleksander Aamodt Kilde to claim overall victory in the super-G.

Already leading the overall classification, the Swiss handed down a warning that his injury has not slowed him down.

Norwegian Kilde finished second, while Italian Mattia Casse completed the podium with his first career top three finish.

Odermatt, the reigning champion in the discipline, had opted to skip Kitzbühel and Schladming in mid-week as a result of the lingering pain in his knee. The Swiss is managing an injury suffered in a big fall last week.

Three of the first four skiiers fell victim to a difficult track, but Frenchman Cyprien Sarrazin mastered his descent to finish a respectable eighth overall, 0.91 seconds behind Odermatt.

With the Alpine Ski World Championships at Courchevel-Meribel just nine days away, Odermatt has underlined his position as the man to beat.

The 25-year-old emerged as a bona fide star in 2021 when he finished second overall in the World Cup standings. He went one better last season, taking the double of World Cup and Olympic gold in Beijing.

Victory on Saturday was Odermatt’s third in super-G this season. Kilde won each of the other two events.

Speaking after victory, Odermatt said: “The adrenaline at the start was worth gold. It’s maybe my most special win. When I went back on snow two, three days ago, it felt like I had been away for a long time. The trust in my body, in my knee, was gone. Now I’m a bit speechless.”

Odermatt will go down in history as the first men’s skier to win a World Cup event at Cortina d’Ampezzo, usually a stop included only on the women’s tour.