Austrian skier Schwarz sets up close duel for victory with Odermatt in World Cup season opener

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SÖLDEN, Austria (AP) — Austrian skier Marco Schwarz set up a close duel for victory with four-time overall champion Marco Odermatt in the first run of the season-opening men’s World Cup giant slalom on Sunday.

Racing in tough conditions due to fog and snowfall, Schwarz made up a massive 0.48 seconds on Odermatt in the flat final section of the Rettenbach course as he finished just one-hundredth off the Swiss star’s lead.

Schwarz’s teammate Stefan Brennsteiner was 0.25 behind in third, while the rest of the field had to make up more than half a second on Odermatt in the final run later Sunday.

“It was not easy, the course set from the third gate was rather slow and therefore a tough fight,” said Odermatt, who won Olympic GS gold in 2022. “I know Marco is hard to beat in the last section, but I cannot lose half a second again, for sure.”

Schwarz or Brennsteiner could give home nation Austria a second victory to start the World Cup season, a day after Julia Scheib won the women’s race.

Two years ago, Odermatt and Schwarz had an intriguing battle in the overall standings. The Austrian was leading when he damaged his knee in a downhill crash and had to end his season in late December, as Odermatt went on to clinch the big crystal globe again.

Odermatt has won the GS title in each of the past four seasons, but he skied out of the opening race last year, which ended with a Norwegian sweep of the podium.

On Sunday, the best-placed Norwegian after the first run was Henrik Kristoffersen in fifth.

Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, who is starting his second season competing for Brazil since his switch from the Norwegian team, slipped and skied out of the course halfway through his run.

“It’s a fine balance between intensity and control and precision, I miscalculated that today,” said Pinheiro Braathen, who’s chasing Brazil’s first ever World Cup win in Alpine skiing.

World champion Raphael Haaser placed 17th, while former overall champion Alexis Pinturault was 1.36 off the lead in 13th in the Frenchman’s first race since January.

River Radamus was the only American starter who qualified for the second run, finishing 1.75 seconds behind Odermatt in 20th.

Strong winds on the upper part of the course forced organizers to use a start gate lower down the mountain, reducing run times to less than a minute for the top racers.

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Eric Willemsen on X: https://x.com/eWilmedia

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AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing