Paris wins last downhill of World Cup season, week after Odermatt locked up discipline title

Paris wins last downhill of World Cup season, week after Odermatt locked up discipline title | iNFOnews.ca
Switzerland's Marco Odermatt holds the downhill discipline title globe at the finish area of an alpine ski, men's downhill race, at the Lillehammer World Cup Finals, in Kvitfjell, Norway, Saturday, March 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

KVITFJELL, Norway (AP) — Italian veteran Dominik Paris beat Olympic champion Franjo von Allmen on Saturday to win the men’s downhill at the World Cup finals, a week after Marco Odermatt had locked up the season title in the discipline.

Now a record five-time downhill winner in Kvitfjell, Paris showed his class on the Olympiabakken course again as he finished 0.19 seconds ahead of von Allmen. Austria’s Vincent Kriechmayr was 0.60 behind in third.

Odermatt was 0.92 off the lead in seventh, his worst result in a downhill this season, but the Swiss star had secured both the overall and downhill title last week after finishing third behind Kriechmayr in the penultimate downhill of the season in France.

“I am not disappointed, for sure not, but also for sure, I wanted to be a little faster today to finish the season on a podium,” said Odermatt, who won the downhill globe for the third straight season.

The five-time overall champion opened the downhill season with back-to-back wins and later added two more victories. Prior to Saturday, he had missed the podium only once in eight races, placing fourth in Crans-Montana in the last race before the Olympics.

“This year was my most consistent downhill season. I performed in every race, today was by far the worse race,” he said.

His dominance gave Odermatt a 191-point lead over Swiss teammate von Allmen in the downhill standings. Paris climbed to third, trailing Odermatt by 265 points.

Odermatt also added the super-G globe last weekend and is in a strong position to win the giant slalom title at the finals on Tuesday.

Saturday’s finish was Paris’ 20th downhill victory and first since winning two races within three days at the same venue in Norway a year ago.

The victory moved Paris into outright second place and one ahead of Peter Müller of Switzerland on the all-time winners list in downhill. Only Austrian great Franz Klammer won more World Cup downhills with 25.

The next men’s race at the finals is the super-G on Sunday.

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

Paris wins last downhill of World Cup season, week after Odermatt locked up discipline title | iNFOnews.ca
Italy’s Dominik Paris reacts at the finish area, during an alpine ski, men’s downhill race, at the Lillehammer World Cup Finals, in Kvitfjell, Norway, Saturday, March 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)
Paris wins last downhill of World Cup season, week after Odermatt locked up discipline title | iNFOnews.ca
Switzerland’s Franjo von Allmen speeds down the course, during an alpine ski, men’s downhill race, at the Lillehammer World Cup Finals, in Kvitfjell, Norway, Saturday, March 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)
Paris wins last downhill of World Cup season, week after Odermatt locked up discipline title | iNFOnews.ca
Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt at the finish area, during an alpine ski, men’s downhill race, at the Lillehammer World Cup Finals, in Kvitfjell, Norway, Saturday, March 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)
Paris wins last downhill of World Cup season, week after Odermatt locked up discipline title | iNFOnews.ca
Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt speeds down the course, during an alpine ski, men’s downhill race, at the Lillehammer World Cup Finals, in Kvitfjell, Norway, Saturday, March 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)

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