Norway’s Atle Lie McGrath topped times in an attritional first leg of the men’s Olympic slalom in Bormio on Monday which saw Brazil’s Lucas Pinheiro Braathen among the casualties.
McGrath was first out of the start hut in snowy conditions and timed 56.14 seconds, a time that was not bettered as racers struggled with visibility on a deteriorating Stelvio course.
Braathen, who won South America’s first-ever Winter Olympic gold when he stormed to victory in Saturday’s giant slalom, slipped out high up the course.
Only three racers got within one second of McGrath, who was informed on the night of the opening ceremony of these Milan-Cortina Games that his grandfather had died after a battle with dementia.
Switzerland’s Loic Meillard, who has already won team combined silver with Marco Odermatt and giant slalom bronze in Bormio, sat in second, at 0.59sec, with Austrian Fabio Gstrein third (+0.94) and McGrath’s teammate Timon Haugan fourth (+0.96).
“I really like when I can go out and set the standard, that was my goal,” said McGrath. “I started the last World Cup race before the Olympics and that was fun.
“I still have a lot of work to do. I’m just going to staty calm, this is a huge challenge for an alpine skier.”
Reigning Olympic champion Clement Noel of France was joint seventh with Austrian Marco Schwarz, at a whopping 1.96sec.
Swiss Tanguy Nef, who laid down an incredible slalom run to win gold for him and partner Franjo von Allmen in the combined, sat even further adrift in 11th, at 2.32sec.
Noel’s fancied teammate Paco Rassat failed to finish along with Austrian Manuel Feller, who produced a dynamic slalom run to help he and Vincent Kriechmayr to silver in the team combined.
Also bombing out to groans from a partisan home crowd were Italy’s Alex Vinatzer and Tommaso Sala, and Finland’s Eduard Hallberg.
Only 44 skiers of the 95-strong field representing 69 countries made it down the course.
Braathen was left ruing what he called “a classic inside ski”.
“We’re at the biggest stage of the world here, we’re skiing for Olympic medals and you’ve got to put yourself out there, you’ve got to ski with your heart, and you’ve got to give it everything you got,” the 25-year-old said.
“That’s what I did. But the sport of alpine skiing is this fine balance between strategy, technique and intensity.
“That is exactly the balance that I was able to find when I brought gold for Brazil and which I wasn’t able to find from start to finish today.”
Braathen added of the recompense of having won gold in the giant slalom: “It goes without saying that I’m so beyond proud. I still have this sun inside of me that’s just blossoming and I’m so happy.
“But a famous saying goes in sports that you’re only as good as your last competition,” said the Norwegian-born skier who fell out with the Norway ski federation, stepped away from the World Cup for a season and came back under the flag of his Brazilian mother’s homeland.
“What I’ve been able to prove myself, to the greatest extent, perhaps, is that daring to be who I am is my source of happiness, and my happiness for me is my definition of success.
“The fact that I’ve dared to be who I am, taking the choices that I have, paved the way that was yet to be walked, a rather unconventional way.”
lp/td
