The final Men's World Cup downhill ski race of the 23-24 season had to be cancelled on Sunday, denying Switzerland's current ski racing superstar Marco Odermatt the chance of beating his own record for the most World Cup points scored in the men's competition, which he set himself last year, although the 26-year-old did still easily win his third straight overall title.
Previous races last weekend and this at the World Cup Finals saw very warm temperatures and sometimes wet snow but today more precipitation – snow up high, rain in the valley, gusty winds and low visibility led to the decision to cancel the race after several delays in the hope of an improvement.
Odermatt finished the season with 1,947 points, almost twice the total of second placed fellow Swiss racer Loïc Meillard, and more than double the total of Austria slalom specialist Manuel Feller who placed third with 952 points.
Last season Odermatt set a new men's record of 2,042 points (Mikaela Shffrin holds the absolute record for most points in a season scoring 2,206 points in 22-23), which he could just have beaten if today's race had taken place and he'd to take the final 100 points.
Among his many achievements this season Odermatt scored nine straight victories in the giant slalom and was aiming for a clean sweep of all 10 23-24 GS races but he skied out in the final race at the current World Cup Finals being held at Austria's Saalbach Hintetrglemm, which will host next year's bi-annual World Championships in February.
23-24 will unfortunately be remembered as another seasons of many race cancellations, for multiple reasons including temperature too warm, conditions too windy or heavy snowfall making the slopes unsafe.
The attempt to start the speed racing season early with four races on a new course, the world's highest, from Zermatt to Cervinia on the Swiss/Italian border were all cancelled again, as last season, due to conditions, although this time there was plenty of snow. In the meantime the traditional start venue of the speed racing season, Lake Louise, had lost funding and could not step up as replacement as it had in 2022. Then the next stage, at Beaver Creek, was again cancelled due to conditions. The first downhill race finally took place back in Europe on 14 December 2023 at Italy's Val Gardena.
Image top: Marco Odermatt during the FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup at Aspen, Colorado, United States on March 02, 2024. Credit: Red Bull