"It's my own fault"

Odermatt wistfully: “When I see Franjo then…”

Constant attention and constant pressure are a challenge even for dominator Marco Odermatt.

(Bild: GEPA)

Marco Odermatt has spoken about dealing with pressure and attention, emphasizing that it was more fun and cooler for him a few years ago. When he looks at his team-mate Franjo von Allmen now, he is reminded of that time, the Swiss rider said wistfully. But he himself is to blame for the situation.

The dominance of the Swiss men's skiers in the World Cup is never-ending - but the undisputed place in the sun no longer belongs to Marco Odermatt alone. His teammates have long since crept up on the 27-year-old - above all Franjo von Allmen. The dynamics within the team are right, emphasizes Odermatt, and yet the development seems to be gnawing away at the great dominator of recent years. 

In the "NZZ" interview, the Swiss emphasizes that the successes of recent years have certainly brought with them a kind of attention that he cannot always easily deal with. "It continues to get more and more. And maybe you're not as fresh anymore," says Odermatt. Yet he himself is to blame for the situation due to his successes.

"24 hours is not enough"
The 27-year-old then draws a comparison with his team-mate and biggest rival: "When I see Franjo von Allmen now, I often see myself a few years ago," says Odermatt somewhat wistfully. The 23-year-old is currently in a great phase of his career: "Four or five years ago, everything was funnier and cooler for me too," explains Odermatt. 

But the path is not getting any easier for his compatriot either: "He can already tell, within this season, that it's getting more. If ten people want a picture, you do it eight or nine times at the beginning, Franjo is now at maybe four or five times, I'm at two or three times," says Odermatt, who concludes somewhat apologetically: "If you want to fulfill every wish, you need 48-hour days, 24 is definitely not enough."