Aleksander Aamodt Kilde explains how he missed out on downhill gold - A hungry Marco Odermatt is really hard to beat!
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Published 12/02/2023 at 13:05 GMT
Marco Odermatt and Aleksander Aamodt Kilde continued their head-to-head battle from the World Cup tour at the Alpine World Ski Championships on Sunday in the men’s downhill. This time, it was Odermatt who got the better of Kilde, who thinks two mistakes and the hunger of his rival made the difference. Stream the 2023 Alpine World Ski Championships live on Eurosport and discovery+.
‘Odermatt has finally beaten him!’ – Kilde forced to settle for silver
Aleksander Aamodt Kilde believes two mistakes cost him a chance of downhill gold, but conceded a “hungry” Marco Odermatt is “really hard to beat”.
Odermatt put the pressure on his rival with a stunning run which was over one second faster than the rest of the field.
As has been the case on the World Cup tour, Kilde started strongly out of the starting gate but ended up 0.48 seconds behind the Swiss skier at the finish line.
“I did my best,” Kilde told Eurosport. “A couple turns I messed up a bit, at the top and in the middle. But the rest was really good actually.
“The skiing is working but a hungry Odermatt is really hard to beat! I tried to charge and being one of the favourites I focused on my skiing and nearly nailed it, just not quite [as much] as Odermatt.
“But I gave it a good battle and I’m happy with that.”
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'A near-perfect performance' - Odermatt storms into gold medal position in men's downhill
Odermatt’s gold medal on Sunday was his first World Championship medal and he was full of adrenaline when he saw his blistering time.
The 25-year-old, who was fourth in Wednesday’s super-G, described his week in Courchevel as “crazy”.
“It’s just amazing,” Odermatt said. “I knew something was possible, as always but, that it works like this, is unbelievable. I knew I had to go all-in.
“It wasn’t easy the last few days, the other guys skied so well. It just worked perfectly.
“I really had a good feeling up to the first little flat [section] before the second big jump. I knew the upper part was good, the skis [were] going forward.
“I had a good feeling and then it was a big fight in the middle and lower part. As soon as I saw the finish line and saw the time, it was perfect.
“Now everything doesn’t matter anymore. After today, I’m just so happy.”
Odermatt is the big favourite for Friday’s giant slalom, where he could win a second gold. Kilde says he is likely to also compete in the event, but it would be a surprise if he challenges for the world title.
A month ago in Kitzbuhel, Odermatt suffered a knee injury as he recovered from a near-crash. However, he bounced back two weeks later with back-to-back victories in Cortina d'Ampezzo.
His physiotherapist Rene Van Hengelen suggested Odermatt was not fully fit in the build-up to Sunday’s downhill.
“There was quite an impact on his knee [in Kitzbuhel],” Van Hengelen said. "He recovered really fast after that so he could race giant slalom.
“But the last few days were not really easy for him, it was a lot of impact and tension on his knee so we were really happy with the result of today.”
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Stream the 2023 Alpine World Ski Championships live on Eurosport and discovery+
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