Swiss ski star Marco Odermatt says 'everything was perfect' in dominant super-G victory at worlds

SAALBACH-HINTERGLEMM, Austria (AP) — “One of the best super-G skiers of all time ... Marco is just in another league.”

Marco Odermatt's rivals were left in awe Friday after the Swiss ski star dominated the super-G at the Alpine world championships, justifying his status as the big pre-race favorite.

The lauded Swiss standout beat silver medalist Raphael Haaser by a full second, the second-biggest winning margin in a men’s super-G at the worlds.

Odermatt had a flawless run down the sunbathed Schneekristall course and pointed his finger up to the sky and started celebrating almost as soon as he reached the finish area.

Then he pounded his chest several times and let out a scream.

“Everything was perfect ... I couldn’t ask for anything else,” said Odermatt after becoming the first Swiss world champion in super-G since his childhood idol Didier Cuche won the title in 2009.

“I had the best feeling from the third gate. I felt my skis were perfect, did exactly what I wanted, and this gives you in a difficult super-G the confidence to ski your line, to attack, to search the limit, and not go over the limit.”

It’s the first super-G medal from a major event for Odermatt, who is the Olympic giant slalom champion and won the downhill and GS titles at the worlds two years ago.

“It’s extremely nice to be world champion in super-G as well, it’s incredible,” Odermatt said. “For sure, this means a lot. If I could wish for it, I would probably take this one as the first one."

Odermatt is a three-time overall champion and has won 44 races, including 14 super-Gs, on the World Cup. He is the runaway leader in the super-G standings and the only racer with multiple wins in the discipline this season, most recently in Kitzbuehel.

Haaser earned host nation Austria’s second medal, a day after Stephanie Venier won gold and Haaser's sister, Ricarda Haaser, crashed and suffered a season-ending knee injury in the women's super-G.

“I’m really speechless. If you see the crowd, the weather is perfect, home world championships, going away with a medal is just amazing,” said Haaser, who won bronze in combined at the 2023 worlds.

Adrian Smiseth Sejersted was 1.15 seconds behind Odermatt and took bronze for the Norwegian’s first medal at a major event, continuing the tradition that Norwegians usually excel in this discipline.

“Yes, so many good super-G skiers from Norway. With Aksel (Lund Svindal), Kjetil (Jansrud), (Kjetil) Aamodt, (Lasse) Kjus,” Sejersted said.

His teammate Fredrik Moeller finished seven-hundredths behind Sejersted in fifth in the youngster's breakout season that included a super-G win in Bormio in December on the course to be used for next year's Milan-Cortina Olympics.

“I think (Moeller) is going to maybe not dominate because of like Odermatt ... but he’s going to be in the top, like many years now," Sejersted said.

And what about Odermatt?

“One of the best super-G skiers of all time. Hitting a perfect run then you win the world championships with a second. So it’s crazy good,” Sejersted added. "Marco is just in another league, so that’s OK. I guess if he continues then he is maybe going to be the best ever in terms of results.”

Other racers joined in the praise for Odermatt.

Ryan Cochran-Siegle, who was the best American finisher, sharing seventh place with Italian veteran Dominik Paris, called it “evident” that Odermatt is “above the rest of us, winning by that margin in this big of an event. And it’s incredibly well deserved.”

Cochran-Siegle's teammate Bryce Bennett, who was 15th, added that Odermatt “can do no wrong almost.”

“It’s the way that the skis work and the equipment works. And he lines up and with the confidence, it’s insane. Like the whole thing is working really well," Bennett said.

Vincent Kriechmayr, the 2021 world champion in both super-G and downhill, placed fourth and missed a medal by five-hundredths of a second in his first race since injuring his knee in a crash in the Jan. 18 downhill in Wengen.

Canadian speed specialist James Crawford, who upset the favorites to win the 2023 super-G world title, and won the prestigious Kitzbuehel downhill last month, finished 3.41 seconds off the lead.

The field missed several standout racers because of injuries, most notably former overall World Cup champions Aleksander Aamodt Kilde and Alexis Pinturault as well as speed specialist Cyprien Sarrazin.

The worlds continue with the women's downhill on Saturday.

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

Canada's Jeffrey Read arrives at the finish area of a men's Super-G, at the Alpine Ski World Championships, in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Switzerland's Marco Odermatt celebrates after winning the gold medal in a men's Super-G, at the Alpine Ski World Championships, in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Switzerland's Marco Odermatt, gold medal winner of a men's Super-G, celebrates on the podium with second-placed silver medalist Austria's Raphael Haaser, left, and third-placed bronze medalist Norway's Adrian Smiseth Sejersted, at the Alpine Ski World Championships, in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Switzerland's Marco Odermatt listens to the national anthem on the podium after winning the gold medal in a men's Super-G, at the Alpine Ski World Championships, in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Switzerland's Marco Odermatt celebrates at the finish area of a men's Super-G, at the Alpine Ski World Championships, in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Norway's Adrian Smiseth Sejersted speeds down the course during a men's Super-G, at the Alpine Ski World Championships, in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)

Austria's Raphael Haaser celebrates at the finish area of a men's Super-G, at the Alpine Ski World Championships, in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Austria's Raphael Haaser speeds down the course during a men's Super-G, at the Alpine Ski World Championships, in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)

Switzerland's Marco Odermatt celebrates at the finish area of a men's Super-G, at the Alpine Ski World Championships, in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Switzerland's Marco Odermatt speeds down the course during a men's Super-G, at the Alpine Ski World Championships, in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)

NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge turned to the Bleacher Creatures during their first-inning Roll Call at the New York Yankees' home opener Friday, bent a knee and flexed with both arms in honor of Brett Gardner.

“Still hoping he gets a chance to come back here and share his knowledge with the boys a little bit,” Judge said after his go-ahead, two-run homer in the first inning started the Yankees to an 8-2 win over the Miami Marlins. “He was a big part of this team, his long tenure here as a Yankee, so I always like paying him a little credit. He's tuned into the game and watching.”

Gardner spent his entire big league career with the Yankees from 2008-21, and Judge made his major league debut with New York in 2016. Judge started flexing for Roll Call when playing center field, Gardner's old position. Judge roomed with Gardner in 2017.

“He was a leader. He was a professional. He was a prankster. He was everything that you look for in a guy to lead the team,” Judge said, speaking slowly and choosing his words carefully. “He took me in at a young age when I first got here and he treated me just like everybody else and showed me respect. He taught me a lot of things. It kind of teaches you how to lead a clubhouse. He had a big influence on me not only on the field but inside this clubhouse, just the way he played the game and the way he held everybody to a standard. Very few guys are made like Brett Gardner.”

Gardner has been in the Yankees' thoughts even more since March 2024, when his youngest son died at age 14 during a family vacation in Costa Rica. Authorities determined carbon monoxide poisoning was the cause of death.

Judge, the team captain, wanted the Yankees to arrive in style after opening 5-1 on their West Coast trip.

“That's Cap, again, setting the tone,” said Ben Rice, who homered and drove in three runs. “Sent us a text late last night saying: `Hey, suits tomorrow.' So everybody was fired up and we were happy to continue that momentum out on the field.”

Trent Grisham reached leading off with the first of 11 walks by Marlins pitchers and Judge drove a slider into the left-field seats against Eury Pérez for a 2-1 lead.

Judge, who had three RBIs, hit a record 20 first-inning home runs last year, when he finished with 53. Three of Judge’s five hits this season have been home runs.

Coming off his third AL MVP award and first batting title, Judge is off to a slow start with a .185 average.

He gave his teammates a scare in the second inning when he was hit below the right wrist by a 98.9 mph fastball from Pérez, one pitch after Grisham's bases-loaded walk.

“I’ve broken my wrist like that, so that’s always the main concern,” Judge said.

Judge missed 45 games after he was hit by a pitch from Kansas City’s Jakob Junis on July 26, 2018.

“Felt like he was probably OK but I tend to jump up a little quicker when it’s to him," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb

New York Yankees' Aaron Judge (99) hits a two-run home run during the first inning of the Yankees' home-opener baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Friday, April 3, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (99) walks back to dugout during the fifth inning of a home-opener baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Friday, April 3, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

New York Yankees' Aaron Judge (99) successfully steals second base during the eighth inning of a home-opener baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Friday, April 3, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

New York Yankees outfielders Cody Bellinger (35), Trent Grisham (12) and Aaron Judge (99) embrace each other after wining a home-opener baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Friday, April 3, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

New York Yankees' Aaron Judge (99) celebrates after hitting a two-run home run during the first inning of the Yankees' home-opener baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Friday, April 3, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)