“99 percent of athletes think so, but the FIS …”

For Marco Odermatt, a great winter disappointingly ends with the lost battle for the crystal balls. The Nidwalder criticizes, but also recognizes the strength of Alexis Pinturault.

Marco Odermatt, before the final you said that with or without a crystal ball it would have been a great winter for you. You should see him like this again soon, but right now you’re disappointed, right?

So put. Today I am disappointed.

After the first race, he criticized the slope in clear words due to the changing conditions. What else happened at the last giant slalom?

For me, it is mainly a small movement that determines whether or not it advances. This was missing from the first run and I wanted to change that. But in this rapidly changing course it was not possible. It was impassable or impossible to drive on a train so you have some feeling and it looks reasonably good to the audience. I don’t understand how a second race can be set up with these slope conditions.

Long-time peers say that you are a master at getting up quickly after setbacks and bringing positive out of negative. What positive conclusion can you draw from this difficult week in the World Cup finals?

Hopefully tonight. Otherwise very little.

What is planned?

Firm. It will certainly turn out different than what we planned. However, I want to forget about this race as soon as possible.

Was Alexis Pinturault too strong in this last race?

Yes, that is the positive in general: the best has won, and that is good. Alexis won both bullets.

What can you learn from Pinturault?

He is very confident, very focused on skiing and has a good solution ready for every situation. For me that was definitely not the case this time, not in various ways. I have to improve that.

Let’s look to the future. Is it a goal to include the combination in your own program next winter?

We don’t even know if the combination will exist next season … My opinion on this matter is clear: it would be for four disciplines with four times the same number of races. That would clearly be the fairest. 99 percent of athletes think so, but the FIS probably won’t …

If the combination is still on the calendar …

… then I’ll definitely be at the beginning.