Swiss star Odermatt only third in first run of World Cup giant slalom led by teammate Meillard

ADELBODEN, Switzerland (AP) — A home team Swiss racer led the first run of a World Cup giant slalom on Sunday though not the one expected.

Loïc Meillard took advantage of his No. 1 start bib to be 0.27 seconds ahead of Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen, with Olympic and world champion Marco Odermatt third, needing to make up 0.34 in the afternoon.

Odermatt won all 14 of the giant slalom races he has completed in the past two years, and took victory at Switzerland’s classic giant slalom at Adelboden in each of the past three seasons.

The domination in giant slalom by Odermatt — including three straight World Cup season-long titles — has left teammate Meillard with just two career World Cup wins in the discipline.

Odermatt trailed even further behind Meillard’s solid run until making up more than four-tenths of a second down the steep final slope.

Sunshine and blue skies in temperatures of -9 Celsius (16 Fahrenheit) replaced the thick fog and snow that shrouded the slalom on Saturday. The schedule was flipped to avoid having the giant slalom cancelled Saturday.

Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, the Norway-born racer for Brazil who was second on Saturday, failed to finish his first run Sunday.

The classic giant slalom drew a 15,000 crowd, potentially a Sunday record at Adelboden, to the storied course that has featured in every season of the 58-year World Cup history.

Odermatt aims to win a fourth straight title on the Chuenisbaergli hill to match the record of Alpine great Ingemar Stenmark from 1979-82.

The 27-year-old Swiss star leads the giant slalom and overall World Cup standings in search of a fourth straight crystal trophy in both. Odermatt also leads the downhill and super-G standings ahead of races at nearby Wengen next weekend.

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The Associated Press