SOLDEU, Andorra (AFP) - Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt broke Hermann Maier’s men’s World Cup ski points record on Saturday after dominating the giant slalom at the season finals in Andorra.
Odermatt’s 13th win of the elite circuit season took his points tally to 2042, to pass Maier’s mark of 2,000 that had stood for 23 years.
Already guaranteed the overall World Cup crystal globe for the second year running, Odermatt, 25, only needed to finish third to surpass the points haul set by the now-retired Austrian legend.
But the reigning Olympic giant slalom champion made history in style taking 100 points for a win by more than two seconds from Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen with Austrian Marco Schwarz at 2.29 in third.
The 13th World Cup win (seven giant slaloms and six super-Gs) of the campaign drew him level with three ski greats - Sweden’s Ingemar Stenmark, who reached that tally in 1979, Maier (2001) and Marcel Hirscher (2018).
On top of a superb World Cup campaign - he also took the giant slalom and super-G titles - Odermatt last month picked up gold medals in the giant slalom and downhill at the World Ski Championships in France.
The all-time World Cup points record is held by Slovenia’s Tina Maze, who ended the 2013 women’s season with a haul of 2,414.