While anniversary winner Marco Odermatt dominated the headlines in the sprint downhill, the Italian speed team also made a strong impression with a great team performance. We gathered the reactions from the athletes after the race.

Marco Odermatt (SUI | 1st place): "I'm enjoying the flow I'm in at the moment and, of course, I hope it continues. Right now, I'm also lucky that the hundredths are on my side – that was the case again today. My run may not have been perfect, but I managed to maintain my speed from start to finish. That was probably the deciding factor in the end."

Franjo von Allmen (SUI | 2nd place): “Unfortunately, I didn’t get off to the best start, but the rest of the run went very well. I’m happy to take second place. Marco absolutely deserves the win—he always pushes us teammates with his strong performances and makes sure we push each other.”

Dominik Paris (ITA/Ulten | 3rd place): “My run wasn’t perfect, but it was certainly very good, so I’m extremely happy. I didn’t get the entry into the Ciaslat quite right—the timing was off, and I probably lost two to three tenths there. I was very fast in the upper section of the course. Since Saturday’s downhill is even longer than today’s, I’m confident I can make up some time there. In Val Gardena/Gröden, you have to maintain high speed in every section—if you lose a few km/h, it’s almost impossible to regain it before the finish line.”

Florian Schieder (ITA/Kastelruth | 6th place): “I had a good feeling right from the start. I was just a little too cautious in the Ciaslat—I need to ski that section with more courage and conviction. Overall, though, I’m very satisfied. It’s especially nice that we achieved such a strong result as a team. Now I’m really looking forward to Friday and Saturday. I hope lots of people come out so we can all cheer together in the finish stadium.”

Mattia Casse (ITA | 7th place): “I definitely took a step forward today, even though I made a few mistakes during my run. Overall, it was quite solid. The speed is there, which gives me a lot of confidence for the upcoming races. On the Saslong, you always have to push yourself to the limit—and that’s exactly what I plan to do over the next few days.”

Christof Innerhofer (ITA/Gais | 11th place): “Age is just a number for me—I don’t feel as old as I am. The fact that I’m still competing in the World Cup shows that I’m physically fit and able to keep up. In the USA, my setup was completely off, but afterward I tried many different things and made adjustments. Now the feeling and the speed are back. It was really cool to race with a high start number among the ‘young wild ones.’ Everyone is pushing hard to move forward, and feeling that determination up close is great for me. I’m really happy with this result.”