At 34 years old and competing in his 81st World Cup race spread out over 14 seasons, Stefan Brennsteiner achieved his first victory on Friday. Brennsteiner capitalized on Olympic champion Marco Odermatt’s early exit during the first run of a giant slalom event in Copper Mountain, Colorado, securing the win with a significant lead of 0.95 seconds.
Expressing his joy, Brennsteiner from Austria stated, “It means a lot for me. The last years were quite good but I had tough times in my career.” Despite struggling with breathing at the high altitude of around 3,000 meters (9,850 feet) in Colorado, Norwegian veteran Henrik Kristoffersen clinched second place. Filip Zubcic finished third, just one second behind the winner, after a rapid second run that propelled him from 13th position.
Odermatt, who has won 27 World Cup giant slaloms in the past five years, failed to finish a race in the discipline for the first time since last December at nearby Beaver Creek. The Swiss athlete lost control of his inside ski at a right-hand gate while on track to record the fastest first-run time on a cold, clear day in Colorado.
This rare misstep by Odermatt occurred a day after his consecutive super-G victory, as he aims for his fifth straight World Cup overall title. Brennsteiner had previously landed four podium finishes in his career, all in giant slalom, with a single second-place finish in March 2022.
In a field where Erik Read was the sole Canadian contender, he completed the race in 27th place with a combined time of 2:34.42. Read’s performance rounded out the results in the FIS Alpine World Cup men’s giant slalom event in Copper Mountain, Colorado.