Austrian skier Marco Schwarz in the 1st round of the giant slalom at the World Championships in Courchevel, February 17, 2023.
Courchevel (France) – The first round of the giant slalom at the World Championships Austrian Marco Schwarz won, building a lead of 58 hundredths of a second over the favored Swiss Marco Odermatt. Czech skiers Jan Zabystřan and Filip Forejtek did not finish the ride. Thus, they will not follow the 19th place of the currently injured Kryštof Krýzel from the last World Cup and last year's Olympic Games.
Advertisement'; }
Photo gallery: 2023 World Championships in downhill skiing
The exceptionally long and icy giant slalom brought significant differences. The reigning Olympic champion Odermatt was the first to hit the track, having won four out of five races in this discipline in this year's World Cup. He made a significant mistake in a sharp passage and took a deep breath at the finish line.
In the end, only the defending bronze medalist Schwarz got ahead of him, and after the silver in the combination, he took a big step towards another medal at the championship in France. Continuously third Žan Kranjec from Slovenia loses 76 hundredths of a second to him, fourth Swiss Loic Meillard is already more than a second behind.
The Zabystran fell shortly after the first break. As in the combined slalom and super-G, he did not reach the finish line. Immediately, Forejtek with starting number 42 passed him, but in the next section he did not fit into the gate and the race ended prematurely for him as well.
The second round will start at 1:30 p.m.
