KVITFJELL, Norway (AP) — Dominik Paris prevented a Swiss sweep of the podium by winning a men’s World Cup downhill race on Friday, but the Italian veteran couldn’t stop Marco Odermatt from closing in on another overall title.
Paris claimed his record-extending fourth World Cup win in Kvitfjell after speeding down the Olympic slope in 1 minute, 44.67 seconds, beating Odermatt by 0.32 seconds and Stefan Rogentin by 0.63.
Odermatt’s second-place finish all but seals another overall title for the 27-year-old Swiss star. The three-time defending champion’s 80 race points put him 440 ahead of Henrik Kristoffersen, who does not race downhill or super-G, and 655 clear of Swiss teammate Loïc Meillard.
Swiss skiers Franjo von Allmen and Alexis Monney were fourth and fifth, respectively.
The 35-year-old Paris also won World Cup downhill races in Kvitfjell in 2016, 2019 and 2022, and Friday’s win took his tally altogether to 19, joint-second on the all-time downhill winners list with Peter Müller of Switzerland. Only Austrian skier Franz Klammer won more (25).
Friday’s race was initially scheduled to take place in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany on Feb. 2, but that was called off when fog prevented both training runs.
Another downhill race is scheduled for Saturday, with a super-G on Sunday.
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AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing
The Associated Press
