Paris claims Kvitfjell victory as Odermatt celebrates Downhill globe

When the World Cup moves to Kvitfjell, Dominik Paris (ITA/Nordica) comes to play.

The Italian veteran won his seventh World Cup race and fifth Downhill in the Norwegian resort on Saturday to secure third place in the Downhill Crystal Globe chase behind champion Marco Odermatt (SUI/Stöckli).

Using his trademark strength and power, Paris skied masterfully from top to bottom to win his first race of the season, finishing ahead of Olympic champion Franjo von Allmen (SUI/Head, +0.19s) and Austrian veteran Vincent Kriechmayr (AUT/Head, +0.60s).

"It's really a surprise for me that I had such a good run today," Paris admitted after finishing in the top six in all six timed sectors of the course, including recording the fastest time in the first and final sectors.

"I know that you have to push from the top to the bottom, and you have to not be too hard on the skis, but searching (for) a good line to bring always the speed."

Paris' last three World Cup victories, and four of his last five, have come in Norway's 1994 Olympic resort.

"It's very cool to race here," he said. "It's a nice course, it's not so easy to be fast, but I figured it out."

The 36-year-old finished precisely third in the Downhill standings for a remarkable seventh time, 13 years after he first did it in 2013.

Although Saturday was Paris' day, the Downhill season belonged to Odermatt. The Swiss superstar, who had already clinched his third straight Downhill Crystal Globe entering the finals, finished seventh, nearly a second off Paris' winning time.

"I lost a little bit of time everywhere, especially in the second half of the run," said Odermatt, before reflecting on a Downhill season that saw him win four times and reach the podium in seven of nine races.

"The whole season was amazing," he said. "Every globe has a little bit another story behind it, another road to the globe."

Odermatt's teammate Von Allmen, who lit up the Olympic Games in Bormio last month with three gold medals, finished second on the day and in the Downhill season standings.

Skiing immediately after Paris, von Allmen survived a wild flight on a jump early in his challenge to stay in touch and move within 0.04 seconds of Paris at the last intermediate split, but he couldn't make up the deficit in the closeout.

After finishing outside the top 20 in the two training runs on soft snow, however, the 24-year-old was thrilled with the race conditions and his result.

"The snow was a little bit harder, a bit more aggressive than the last days, so I'm pretty happy with my performance today."

His runner-up spot concluded a World Cup Downhill season that saw him claim two victories, two further podiums and three other top-six results in addition to his golden exploits at Milano Cortina 2026.

"Overall, I'm really happy," he said about his season. "There are the Olympics, some wins, but also some downs, like Wengen, I couldn't show the performance I wanted, a big mistake in Kitzbühel, so there are still a lot of things to improve."

As for next season, von Allmen knows it's all about hunting down his teammate Odermatt.

"I try to make fire behind Marco's ass," he said.

One skier who has been chasing Odermatt for years is 2021 double world champion Kriechmayr, who moved up to fourth in the final Downhill standings with his third-place finish.

The 34-year-old used a smooth and classy run with bib No.11 to take the lead, only for first Paris and then von Allmen to pass him.

"My skiing was pretty good," the Austrian said. "I'm without big mistakes, just finding a good speed, a good line, maybe a little luck."

Despite his up-and-down campaign, Kriechmayr finished in the top six in the Downhill standings for the eighth time in the last nine years.

"I made a solid Downhill season," he said. "I think the end (of the season) was pretty good, but in January and also at the Olympics, I didn't reach the results I wanted to."

Kriechmayr and the rest of the top speed skiers will have a final chance for glory this season in Sunday's Super G, where Paris will go for the Kvitfjell speed double, something he achieved in 2019 and 2025.

"Tomorrow another race, hopefully I have a good result also," the Italian veteran said.

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