Marco Odermatt is a young Swiss alpine ski racer who has taken his sport by storm in recent years. He made a major first impression when took gold in the giant slalom at the 2016 World Junior Championships in Sochi, but he made headlines when he won an unprecedented five gold medals at the same tournament in Davos two years later. In 2021, he finished overall runner-up in that season’s World Cup and won the tournament overall in 2022. That year also saw him win his first Olympic gold medal, triumphing in the giant slalom event at the Winter Olympics in Beijing.

Born in October 1997, Odermatt stepped onto the world stage in 2016, winning gold and bronze medals at the World Junior Championships and also making his World Cup debut. He has been a contender in the latter competition every season since, leaping up the rankings to break into the Top 100 in 2018, the Top 25 in 2019, the Top 20 in 2020, and onto the podium in 2021.

As befitting of a young World Champion in the 2020s, Odermatt has all the trappings of modern fame, including a massive social media audience, which includes more than 192,000 Instagram followers. He frequently interacts with his many fans, keeping them up-to-date on his career. With the 2022 World Cup title and an Olympic gold medal in the bag, he has now rightfully ascended to the very top of his sport — and he is still only in his mid-twenties.