ZURICH – One of alpine skiing’s most dominant modern competitors saw his quest to make history hit an early speed bump this week. Swiss skiing standout Marco Odermatt, who is chasing a sixth consecutive overall FIS World Cup title, will be forced to sit out his team’s upcoming preseason training camp in Chile after suffering a minor muscle injury during routine off-season training.
The Swiss Alpine Ski Team announced the development in a statement released Saturday, confirming that Odermatt began experiencing discomfort during a structured physical training session earlier in the week. Follow-up diagnostic exams confirmed the minor muscle strain, leading team officials to scrap his planned travel to South America. Odermatt was scheduled to depart for Chile with the rest of the national team next Monday.
No additional details about the specific location or severity of the injury were shared in the initial announcement. Team leadership emphasized that Odermatt’s full recovery is the top priority at this stage of the preseason. “The priority now is treatment and rehabilitation,” the statement read. “As soon as a return to on-snow training is possible, the rest of his season preparation will be re-assessed.”
Odermatt’s historic run of five straight overall World Cup titles already puts him in rare company in the sport’s record books. He is currently tied with Luxembourg’s Marc Girardelli for second place on the all-time list of most overall World Cup titles, trailing only Austrian legend Marcel Hirscher, who holds the record with eight total championships. A sixth straight title this coming season would pull him one step closer to matching Hirscher’s unprecedented mark, cementing his status as one of the sport’s all-time greats.
The 28-year-old skier is no stranger to success on the sport’s biggest stages, either. At last season’s Milan Cortina World Championships, he earned three podium finishes, taking home two silver medals and one bronze. This adds to his giant slalom gold medal win at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, rounding out a resume that includes nearly every major honor in competitive alpine skiing.
The 2025-2026 FIS World Cup season is still scheduled to get underway as planned this October, with the traditional opening race hosted in Sölden, Austria. While Odermatt’s preseason preparation has been interrupted, the injury is currently classified as minor, leaving open the possibility that he will be ready to compete when the first race of the season kicks off in just a few months.