Marco Odermatt is a great artist.

For his last date of the winter, the snow tightrope walker did not disappoint, concluding a new performance with a bow, bent in front of a noisy crowd, after crushing the competition once again, reduced to animating his first part of the show. .

Victorious 49/100 ahead of the Norwegian Lucas Braathen and 63/100 ahead of his compatriot Loïc Meillard, the 24-year-old Swiss completed an exceptional winter and week on Saturday (2nd in the downhill and super-G on Wednesday and Thursday), while he will not compete in the slalom on Sunday.

The joy of the Swiss Marco Odermatt, winner of the giant of the finals of the Alpine Skiing World Cup and of the small globe of the discipline, on March 19, 2022 in Courchevel SEBASTIEN BOZON AFP

He climbed on the podium of the eight giants on the World Cup program, winning a fifth victory in Méribel.

Olympic champion in the specialty, the gourmand also showed his talent in super-G and downhill, allowing him to win the big crystal globe at the start of the week for the first time in his career.

Author of the fastest time in the first round on Saturday, he was solid on the second track in the Savoyard resort, drunk on the sun, which will host next year with Courchevel the World Championships (the men will be in Courchevel, the women in Méribel ).

With seven victories in total this winter, the Nidwalden finished with 1,639 points overall and a gap ahead of the competition (Kilde is 2nd at more than 400 points), scores worthy of the great years of the Austrian Marcel Hirscher.

Sacred last year with 1,260 points (but two races less on the program), Alexis Pinturault took 6th place on Saturday, an almost pleasing result at the end of a gloomy season, which shows that everything is going very fast also in the Alpine skiing.

Frenchman Alexis Pinturault, during the first round of the giant finals of the Alpine Skiing World Cup and the small globe of the discipline, March 19, 2022 in Courchevel NICOLAS TUCAT AFP

The other two Frenchmen missed each other: Thibaut Favrot is 20th, world champion Mathieu Faivre 22nd.

© 2022 AFP