Marco Odermatt wins his second gold at the World Championships in the men’s giant slalom in Courchevel

Marco Odermatt won gold in the men’s giant slalom competition at the 2023 Alpine World Ski Championships in Courchevel on Friday.

Fellow Swiss skier Loic Meillard took home silver, finishing 0.32s off the top spot, while Austria’s Marco Schwarz managed a bronze, 0.40s off of Odermatt, having led after the first run.

The victory means that Odermatt becomes the youngest man to win two individual gold medals at a championships since Aksel Lund Svindal, who also won the downhill and the giant slalom back in 2007.

“It’s amazing. So many great Swiss fans here, family, friends,” the winner said after the race. “Thank you to the crowd; it was amazing.”

When asked if sharing the podium with his Swiss teammate made it more special, Odermatt said: “Yes, of course. I came to the finish, had to count a little bit, and then I saw the two medals today for us.

“I actually didn’t expect to win. Marco [Schwarz] skied so well in the first run. He made some mistakes in the second, but it helped me [to win] gold.

Great Briton Charlie Raposo finished with a time of 2:37.97.

“It was awesome. That was a really nice set to ski. Loads of speed, and loads of rhythm, so you could really just let it go down the hill,” he told Eurosport after his run.

“When you run early, you see little tracks from the guys before, and I kept thinking, ‘Oh my god, why are they going up there?’ Like I was really going down the hill, and I was a bit nervous, but it worked well. The skiing was good. I’m happy.

“Amazing slope. The first run was a little more difficult, but there, when it was smooth, it was amazing to ski.”

After the race, Johannes Hasslet, Odermatt’s coach, said: “Really nice team result, it’s fantastic. Another victory for Marco here in the World Championships. Amazing day.”

On what he told Odermatt just before his run, he said: “Just some little information from the other coaches from the race course who were coming up to me. I told Marco, and all the other Swiss athletes this information, what they have to look for, the little ruts, the tricky spots, and then they went for it.

Matteo Joris, Meillard’s coach added: “I’m really happy because the first run was not so good. I think he wasn’t skiing like he [normally does]. In the second run, that’s him enjoying it, and trying to do his best. It was not enough to win, but this is like a gold medal because Odermatt is the best, and we need to fight to stay at his level.”

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