Marco Odermatt named skier of the year after winning 13 races and third overall title

SOELDEN, Austria (AP) — Swiss standout Marco Odermatt was named skier of the year by the federation of ski journalists on Friday.

Odermatt won 13 World Cup races on the way to his third straight overall title last season.

He previously received the Skieur d’Or AIJS Serge Lang award two years ago, after winning two gold medals at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

The AIJS called Odermatt’s season “quite impressive,” mentioning his first World Cup wins in downhill and his nine straight giant slalom victories, missing out on what would have been a record-equaling 10th only when he failed to finish the GS at the World Cup finals in March.

The AIJS also praised Odermatt “for his kindness with his fans and his keen availability for the representatives of the international media.”

Other winners of the annual award in the past 10 years include Mikaela Shiffrin of the U.S., Alexis Pinturault of France, Federica Brignone of Italy, and Austrians Marcel Hirscher and Anna Veith.

The AIJS awarded their Prix Armando Trovati 2024 for the best ski racing photo to Alexander Hassenstein, a German photographer, for an image of Shiffrin during the second run of last year’s giant slalom in Soelden.

The award is named after the late Armando Trovati, a long-time Associated Press photographer who covering ski racing.

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AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing