‘King of Bormio,’ Marco Odermatt and U.S. men look forward to having 2026 Olympics at a traditional World Cup venue
Italy’s Dominik Paris speeds down the course during an alpine ski, men’s World Cup downhill training, in Bormio, Italy, Tuesday, Dec.27, 2022. Paris has won a record seven times on the Italian slope.
Alessandro Trovati/AP photo
The last time the Olympic downhill was run on a regular World Cup stop was in 1994 at the Olympiabakken course in Kvitfjell, Norway. After recent trips to Russia, South Korea and China, the best skiers in the world are excited to go for gold on a traditional slope this February.
“To have an Olympic downhill on a classic World Cup downhill track is something that seems pretty rare,” said Bryce Bennett, who placed 16th and 19th at his first two Games. “You’d be the man if you won that thing.”
Former Ski and Snowboard Club Vail athlete Kyle Negomir said everyone on the team is excited to race Bormio’s notoriously difficult Stelvio slope instead of the made-for-TV tracks which have ruled the quadrennial extravaganza in recent vintage.
Kyle Negomir speeds down the course during an alpine ski, men’s World Cup Super G race, in Bormio, Italy, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. Gabriele Facciotti/AP photo
“To have Bormio — which we’ve all seen and put ourselves against and know is one of the toughest tracks in the world — I think it’s really cool to be able to show that level of skiing on the biggest stage in the world,” he said during the Copper Cup press conference on Wednesday.
Inaugurated in 1982, the 3,230-meter long Stelvio course possesses a max incline of over 60% and an average incline of 30.9% — steeper than the legendary Streif at Kitzbuhel. It goes through nine named sections over the course of its 986-meter vertical drop, including the notorious Ermellini turns and the San Pietro jump. The undisputed ‘King of Bormio’ is Italian Dominik Paris, who has won a record seven times (six downhill and one super-G) between 2012 and 2021 on his home track.
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“In Bormio, the only thing that counts (is) a lot of confidence about your skiing (and) yourself,” Paris said on Thursday after placing 11th in the super-G on the first day of the Copper Cup. Paris has competed at four Olympics, placing fourth in the 2018 downhill. A super-G world champion in 2019, the 36-year-old would love nothing more than to cap off his 16-year career by stepping onto an Olympic podium.
“I’m not a younger guy anymore. I have to be a bit more focused on quality. But I had a really good summer,” Paris continued. “I have (had) a really good career so far. To come to Bormio (for the) Olympics, it’s for sure different and I will enjoy it a lot because skiing on a slope that I like that much for me (has) never happened. So, it will be a pleasure to be there.”
Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt competes in a World Cup men’s super-G race on Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025 at Copper Mountain. Robert F. Bukaty/AP photo
While Marco Odermatt has reigned supreme across just about every discipline on the circuit — he won three crystal globes in 2023 and four in each of the last two seasons — he’s never won on the Stelvio. Still, he knows solely focusing on the Olympics isn’t the way to show up in Italy at his best.
“For ski racing, you have to build up the confidence, so it’s not like in other sports where you can just focus on the Olympics and don’t race well the races before,” Odermatt said. “So, it’s important to take it race by race and give it your best every day.”
Odermatt got off to a good start, claiming a Thanksgiving Day win in the season’s first super-G on day 1 of the Copper Cup. Vincent Kriechmayr, who finished second to Odermatt on Thursday, won both speed events at the 2021 world championships and claimed downhill silver last year in Saalbach. But the Austrian legend doesn’t have an Olympic medal to his name.
“I mean it’s a long way to go, but of course Bormio is a pretty tough (course) for the Olympic races,” said Kriechmayr, who has six podiums at the Italian venue, including a downhill win from 2022. “At the Olympics, there are also some surprises.”
The Americans have often played such a dark horse role. Ryan Cochran-Siegle — who claimed a super-G silver medal in Beijing — tried to put a finger on why the U.S. men have experienced more successes at the global championships compared to the World Cup.
“Having that underdog mentality — I feel like that plays into how we get energized,” he said. “We all believe in ourselves and I think sometimes when you feel like the rest of the world doesn’t see it, you kind of want to go out and prove it.”
“That’s helpful in that space,” the 33-year-old continued. “You have nothing to lose — and that’s usually when you’re able to showcase the best of yourself.”
U.S. skier Daron Rahlves, right, sprays sparkling wine on Bode Miller, left, during a victory party in the American House in Bormio, northern Italy, Saturday, Feb. 5, 2005. Miller won the gold in the Men’s Downhill of the Alpine World Ski Championships earlier, Rahlves took 2nd place. Thomas Kienzle/AP photo
Tommy Moe famously won downhill gold and super-G silver at the aforementioned 1994 Olympics despite never winning a World Cup downhill across his entire career. Moe also placed 12th at the 1989 World Championships in Vail at 19 — a year before earning his first World Cup points. In both 2010 and 2014, Andrew Weibrecht — who spent most of his career outside the top-20 in the super-G standings — got on the medal stand from unlikely positions. In Sochi, he went from bib 29 to silver to earn his second-career Olympic medal. Finally, the last time a global championships was held at Bormio was in 2005, when Bode Miller captured double gold in downhill and super-G.
River Radamus has bottled the American magic at times, too. The Edwards local left his first Olympics with two surprise fourth-place results. He also placed fourth in the Alpine combined at the 2023 World Championships and fourth in the team parallel in Saalbach.
River Radamus speeds down the course during an alpine ski, men’s World Cup Super G race, in Bormio, Italy, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. Gabriele Facciotti/AP photo
“You realize how short your career can be. If you’re at the very top level, I have maybe two or three more opportunities to be able to represent my country at the world stages,” Radamus said when reflecting on his podium near misses. “I’m definitely coming in with a lot of hunger and I feel good knowing I’ve done everything I possibly can to put myself in the best position.”
Bennett said having the country behind you “allows you to get into a different mental space” not always accessible on a typical race weekend.
“I look forward to that opportunity,” he said. “For me personally, bringing experience from the first two Olympics and then having the opportunity to put it all together on race day in Bormio would be something special.”
