FIS Alpine Ski World Cup 2024/25: Mattia Casse claims first career win with narrow Super G victory in Val Gardena

The home Italian fans were given something to cheer as Mattia Casse claimed his maiden FIS Alpine Ski World Cup victory in the Super G race in Val Gardena, Italy, on Friday (20 December).

With just three World Cup third-place finishes serving as his best results before Friday, 34-year-old Casse put in a storming run down the Saslong slope early in the race, making the most of early overcast weather with light snow in the air and hard and firm snow conditions.

The Italian topped the timesheets with quick second, third, and fourth sectors, crossing the finish line in 1:28.23 – and for a long time, no one looked like coming close.

Not even Super G World Cup leader Marco Odermatt, who took to the slopes two runs after Casse, could post a time within four tenths of Casse.

However, the weather briefly improved after a long delay caused by a crash suffered by Austrian Daniel Danklmaier, who was able to ski off the piste himself, and USA’s Jared Goldberg put in a surprising run that nearly forced Casse off the leader’s chair.

Starting 26th out of the gates, Goldberg had the fastest first and second sectors and found himself nearly three-tenths of a second inside Casse’s time halfway down the course. However, the increasingly rutted slopes slowed the U.S. skier in the fourth sector and, although Goldberg managed to find extra speed in the final part of the race to make up time, he agonisingly finished 0.01 seconds slower than Casse’s time.

Casse, who had watched on nervously, leapt out of his seat in celebration as Goldberg looked up to see his time, reacting in disbelief that he had come so close.

Odermatt finished third, 0.43 seconds behind Casse. The podium finish extends his lead at the top of the Super G standings to 45 points on a total of 160 points, while Casse leaps from 16th to second on 115 points. Fredrik Moeller of Norway, who finished fourth on Friday behind Odermatt, sits third on 100 points.

The biggest top 10 surprise of the day came late on, as Norway’s Lars Roesti slotted into eighth place with a starting bib number of 48, thanks in large part to his fast finish. The Norwegian posted the quickest fifth-sector time of the entire race.