Olympics: Razzoli leads slalom first run; Miller, Ligety DNF

WHISTLER, B.C. – The Americans checked out early in the rain Saturday in the final Olympic alpine race – men’s slalom in Whistler. Raining slush turned to some big, wet flakes of snow as more than 100 racers lined up at the start.

Defending Olympic slalom champion, Austrian Benjamin Raich danced through the rain on chemical-laden snow to the lead, replaced six racers later by Slovenian Mitja Valencic. In the meantime, Austrian Manfred Pranger got in the backseat and bounced through a middle flush horizontally, eliminating himself early.

Raich will have the weight of his nation on his shoulders in the second run as he vies for the ski-obsessed country’s only men’s alpine medal at these Games.

It was four more racers before Italian Giuliano Razzoli threw down a tight line and broke into the lead by almost a half second.

The place erupted for Canadian Michale Janyk, cowbells clanking with every wave of slush he sloshed around each of the course’s 66 gates, landing nearly a second and a half off the pace.

It was then that the race got ugly. Germany’s only hope in the race, Felix Neureuther hooked a tip, spread eagled and crashed just after the first split.

American Ted Ligety was almost a second back off the first split when he got tossed and straddled a gate, immediately afterward Bode Miller (three medals at these Games) burst out and was just getting his rhythm when he, without even getting wobbled, straddled the fifth gate on course.

“It’s unfortunate to make a mistake so early in the course before you even get a rhythm for it, but that’s the way slalom goes,” said Miller who told reporters he wanted to win a slalom more than anything after his super G silver. “When you take risk in slalom, you don’t really take them from the bottom half. You take them from the first gate and if you don’t, you can give away a tenth of a second on the first two gates. You’ve gotta be willing to go out and pound through the first gates 100 percent. It’s a bummer when it doesn’t work.”

Ligety, gold medalist in the super combined at the Torino Games, skied in four disciplines over the last two weeks but will go home without a medal.

“It is a kick in the nuts to leave here without a medal,” he said. “You hope to have a good Olympics but it doesn’t always work out that way. It’s tough being on a team with so many guys who are getting medals and you are one of the favorites but you don’t win.”

Right after that Norway’s Lars Elton Myhre was nearly to the bottom when he hit a bump, spun around backwards and ended his race.

Jimmy Cochran started off light and quick, snaking through the first two flushes like a worm. He was three-tenths back when he got tossed, came to a complete stop, hiked up a couple steps and kept it going … but ended at the back of the pack, more than seven seconds off the pace.

“The snow is actually pretty goood. visibility is tough, it’s kind of in and out,” said Cochran “Plus, it’s the olympics, so everybody is just going for it.”  

“I got a little bit late, on this snow, once you miss the top of the turn and the pressure is late, you’re kind of screwed,” continued Cochran. “There’s a groove, it’s easy to look back and say, ‘jeez, I should have known or i wish someone had told me,’ but …whatever.”

Young Nolan Kasper had America’s fourth start and, though no one would have bet on it, leads the U.S. after the first run, 2.87 seconds off the pace.

It will be a long day as 102 racers from 56 countries including Iran, Ghana, Mexico and Peru will make their way down the course.

The second run will begin at 1:45pm local time.

Image by Gepa

Unofficial Results

1	13	293098	RAZZOLI Giuliano	1984	ITA	47.79		47.79
2	9	560355	VALENCIC Mitja	1978	SLO	48.22		48.22
3	3	50625	RAICH Benjamin	1978	AUT	48.33		48.33
4	2	380260	KOSTELIC Ivica	1979	CRO	48.37		48.37
5	8	292491	MOELGG Manfred	1982	ITA	48.64		48.64
6	37	150398	BANK Ondrej	1980	CZE	48.69		48.69
7	1	510890	ZURBRIGGEN Silvan	1981	SUI	48.78		48.78
8	4	191459	LIZEROUX Julien	1979	FRA	48.82		48.82
9	6	53831	HIRSCHER Marcel	1989	AUT	48.92		48.92
10	12	501017	MYHRER Andre	1983	SWE	49.03		49.03
11	14	102435	JANYK Michael	1982	CAN	49.18		49.18
12	7	50605	HERBST Reinfried	1978	AUT	49.23		49.23
13	10	501111	HARGIN Mattias	1985	SWE	49.27		49.27
14	27	301312	SASAKI Akira	1981	JPN	49.41		49.41
15	11	192506	MISSILLIER Steve	1984	FRA	49.49		49.49
16	41	193347	TISSOT Maxime	1986	FRA	49.52		49.52
17	35	102922	WHITE Trevor	1984	CAN	49.53		49.53
18	31	421483	JANSRUD Kjetil	1985	NOR	49.54		49.54
19	19	102239	COUSINEAU Julien	1981	CAN	49.59		49.59
20	47	511352	VILETTA Sandro	1986	SUI	49.85		49.85
21	38	192504	MERMILLOD BLONDIN Thomas	1984	FRA	49.90		49.90
22	23	511127	GINI Marc	1984	SUI	49.94		49.94
23	43	380292	ZRNCIC-DIM Natko	1986	CRO	50.01		50.01
24	33	92591	ALBRECHT Kilian	1973	BUL	50.08		50.08
25	24	290732	THALER Patrick	1978	ITA	50.13		50.13
26	20	501223	BAECK Axel	1987	SWE	50.25		50.25
27	50	480736	HOROSHILOV Alexandr	1984	RUS	50.50		50.50
27	30	501101	BYGGMARK Jens	1985	SWE	50.50		50.50
29	46	532138	KASPER Nolan	1989	USA	50.66		50.66
30	56	90047	GEORGIEV Stefan	1977	BUL	50.86		50.86
31	65	30149	SIMARI BIRKNER Cristian Javier	1980	ARG	51.35		51.35
32	71	220575	NOBLE Andrew	1984	GBR	51.55		51.55
33	53	220689	RYDING David	1986	GBR	51.58		51.58
34	64	680041	ABRAMASHVILI Iason	1988	GEO	51.89		51.89
35	58	910001	ROUX Christophe	1983	MDA	51.90		51.90
36	62	230080	DIMITRIADIS Vassilis	1978	GRE	51.96		51.96
37	66	700724	BABUSIAK Jaroslav	1984	SVK	52.10		52.10
38	61	380296	MARINELLI Danko	1987	CRO	52.28		52.28
39	74	280020	RENZHYN Mykhaylo	1978	ISR	52.84		52.84
40	75	710311	RUDIC Marko	1990	BIH	53.70		53.70
41	76	550054	ZVEJNIEKS Kristaps	1992	LAT	53.82		53.82
42	63	60088	VAN DEN BOGAERT Jeroen	1979	BEL	53.99		53.99
43	88	670037	ZAKURDAEV Igor	1987	KAZ	54.41		54.41
44	22	534040	COCHRAN Jimmy	1981	USA	54.94		54.94
45	83	690086	FESHCHUK Rostyslav	1990	UKR	55.35		55.35
46	79	310388	KOSIC Bojan	1990	MNE	56.15		56.15
47	69	260079	SAVEH SHEMSHAKI Hossein	1985	IRA	57.59		57.59
48	90	210012	SHAMAEV Oleg	1982	UZB	57.65		57.65
49	101	120035	LI Lei	1987	CHN	59.43		59.43
50	98	790005	AZZIMANI Samir	1977	MAR	1:00.43		1:00.43
51	89	270010	O CONNOR Shane	1973	IRE	1:00.83		1:00.83
52	99	540001	VON HOHENLOHE Hubertus	1959	MEX	1:02.09		1:02.09
53	102	941000	NKRUMAH-ACHEAMPONG Kwame	1974	GHA	1:09.08		1:09.08
54	95	800013	TOLA Erjon	1986	ALB	1:33.94		1:33.94