Austrian Marco Schwarz takes win in tight giant slalom race

OLYMPIC VALLEY, Calif. (AP) — Marco Schwarz of Austria won a tight giant slalom race Saturday as the men’s World Cup circuit made a stop at the Palisades Tahoe resort for the first time since 1969.

In fifth place after the opening run, Schwarz powered through the course in a combined time of 2 minutes, 23.63 seconds to hold off Swiss standout Marco Odermatt by 0.03 seconds. Rasmus Windingstad of Norway wound up third to earn his first World Cup podium finish since 2019.

It was Schwarz's first World Cup win since a slalom race on Jan. 26, 2021, at Schladming, Austria.

Odermatt has now been on the podium in each of the last 14 World Cup giant slalom races he’s started.

It’s been quite a season for Odermatt, who also won the giant slalom at the world championships in Courchevel, France, on Feb. 17. Odermatt's performance Saturday extended his lead over Aleksander Aamodt Kilde of Norway in his bid to win back-to-back overall World Cup titles.

The top American finisher was George Steffey in 21st place. Fellow U.S. racer River Radamus was among the three competitors who didn't finish their final run.

The last time the men were in California — 54 years ago — Reinhard Tritscher of Austria won a giant slalom race and American Billy Kidd took a slalom event.

The women’s side made a stop at the resort in March 2017. Mikaela Shiffrin won both the slalom and giant slalom World Cup races.

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