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Odermatt adds downhill title as final World Cup event cancelled / Photo: Joe Klamar - AFP
Odermatt adds downhill title as final World Cup event cancelled
Marco Odermatt claimed the men's downhill crystal globe on Sunday when the final event of the Alpine World Cup skiing season in Saalbach was cancelled due to heavy snowfall.
The Swiss had already secured the overall title as well as the super-G and giant slalom globes, and finished with 552 points in the downhill, 42 ahead of nearest challenger Frenchman Cyprien Sarrazin.
It marks a first downhill discipline title for Odermatt who won two of the eight events to be completed during the season - both at Wengen in January.
The race was initially pushed back from its slated start at 1015 GMT to 1200 by organisers but wind and snowfalls on Sunday morning finally lead to the event being called off.
"Due to the current weather conditions with wind and snow affecting the track, and to ensure the safety of the athletes, the organisation has decided to cancel the race," said the International Ski Federation (FIS).
Sunday's was perhaps a fitting end to a season which has been savaged by poor conditions.
In all, 21 races (13 men's, 8 women's) were cancelled, the vast majority of them speed events.
Only five of the cancelled races were re-run during the season.
J.P.Hoffmann--BlnAP
