Marco Odermatt, the Swiss superstar and reigning three-time Super-G Crystal Globe champion, has stormed to the top of the leaderboard at the season’s first men’s Super-G of the 2025-26 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup. As the top 15 athletes completed their runs under crisp Rocky Mountain skies, Odermatt’s blistering time set the pace, underscoring his dominance in the discipline and igniting the Thanksgiving weekend crowd at this historic U.S. venue.
The 28-year-old Odermatt, fresh off clinching his fourth consecutive overall World Cup title last season, delivered a flawless descent on the challenging 2,100-meter course, clocking an unofficial leading time that left rivals scrambling. Drawing on his unmatched precision through the steep chutes and high-speed sweeps, Odermatt extended his streak of top-10 finishes in Super-G to 25 consecutive races—a testament to his preparation following a strong giant slalom opener in Sölden earlier this month. “It’s all about consistency in these early races,” Odermatt said post-run, via FIS broadcast. “The course here is fast and technical—perfect for testing where we stand heading into the Olympic year.”
Live timing on the FIS app showed Odermatt holding a slim but commanding margin as the field progressed, with full official results pending the completion of all starters. Among the top performers so far, Norway’s Fredrik Moeller lurked close in second, just 0.23 seconds back, showcasing the Nordic nation’s depth in speed events. Austria’s Raphael Haase, a consistent podium threat, slotted into third at +0.41, while Italy’s veteran Mattia Casse and France’s Dominik Paris rounded out the provisional top five, both under a second off the lead.
The U.S. contingent showed promise amid home-soil pressure. Ryan Cochran-Siegle, the 2022 Beijing downhill silver medalist making a long-awaited return from injury, uncorked a solid 1:08.53 to sit seventh, his aggressive line through the final rollers drawing cheers from the partisan crowd. Fellow American River Radamus followed in 11th with a 1:08.85, building momentum after a breakout 2024-25 campaign, while Jared Goldberg clocked 1:10.74 for 14th, keeping the Stars and Stripes in contention. “This hill feels like home, and the energy is electric,” Cochran-Siegle noted. “Marco’s the benchmark, but we’re here to push him.”
Copper Mountain’s return to the World Cup calendar after more than two decades marks the only U.S. stop featuring both men’s and women’s fields this season, adding extra buzz to the four-day festival.028fc5 The event kicked off with the men’s Super-G on Thanksgiving Day, drawing a star-studded start list that includes Olympic hopefuls like Norway’s Aleksander Aamodt Kilde in his comeback from a serious crash last winter, and Switzerland’s Loïc Meillard, Odermatt’s frequent podium rival. Off the hill, two-time Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin made a surprise appearance to support the men, ahead of her own races in women’s giant slalom on Saturday and slalom on Sunday.
With the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics looming, the stakes are sky-high. Odermatt, who swept the speed podium at last year’s Worlds alongside teammates Stefan Rogentin and Vincent Kriechmayr, enters as the man to beat after winning three of eight Super-Gs last season and never finishing worse than seventh. Yet challengers abound: Kriechmayr, third in the 2024-25 Super-G standings, and Norway’s rising star Moeller, who scored points in every race last year, are primed to disrupt the Swiss reign.
As the sun dipped behind the Tenmile Range, the atmosphere crackled with anticipation. Full results will update live on fis-ski.com and the FIS app, with women’s giant slalom set for tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. MT. In a season billed as one of the most competitive yet, Odermatt’s early surge signals another thrilling chase for the crystal globes—and Olympic glory.
