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Switzerland's winner Marco Odermatt celebrates during the the award ceremony after the downhill competition of the Men's Alpine skiing World Cup, . Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa
Swiss skiing great Marco Odermatt clinched a fifth straight overall World Cup title and a third downhill trophy in a row on Friday by coming third in a race in France where Vincent Kriechmayr ended a record winning drought for Austria.
Kriechmayr topped the Courchevel podium nine-hundredths of a second ahead of Italy's Giovanni Franzoni and .31 from Odermatt.
The former world champion ended a run of 23 races spanning almost three years without victory for an Austrian downhiller. Kriechmayr was also the last Austrian winner, on March 15, 2023, in Soldeu, Andorra.
There was a shock moment when American Jared Goldberg encountered two piste workers on the course when he was racing down. One of them quickly moved to the side and Goldberg just managed to evade the other.
Odermatt meanwhile added more silverware on the course where he won his first downhill race at the 2023 world championships.
He clinched the overall globe with six races to spare by moving 632 points clear of Brail's Lucas Pinheiro Braathen who does not compete in the speed disciplines. A victory is worth 100 points.
He was assured of the downhill trophy even before racing because his remaining rival, Swiss team-mate and triple Olympic champion Franjo von Almen, failed to finish. Odermatt won four of the eight downhill races and had three further podiums.
“It’s unbelievable," he told Swiss broadcasters SRF about the trophies.
"You can’t plan for something like this, nor is it something you’d wish for as a young boy. So many things have to fall into place for it to be possible, year after year, to demonstrate the consistency I’ve shown again this season. It’s absolutely brilliant and great fun.”
Odermatt drew level with Luxembourg's Marc Girardelli on five overall titles, with only Austrian Marc Girardelli ahead on eight titles. Austrian Annemarie Moser-Pröll has six titles on the women's side, a feat American Mikaela Shiffrin can match this season.
Odermatt now has 15 globes for his career and is also on course towards a fifth giant slalom and fourth super-g title in a row. He can clinch the super-g title on Saturday or Sunday in Courchevel.
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