Small Closes Gap Between Rivals
It is rare that there is as much interest in the athlete 29th across the line as there is in the top ten athletes but after another strong result on the Sochi Slopes Aussie young gun Greta Small is the talk of the Rosa Khutor Alpine Centre.
“Can you believe she is only 18-years-old?” said Brit Chemmy Alcott following the Women’s Downhill event on Wednesday.
Small backed up her 15th place finish in the Super Combined with a 29th in the Downhill as she continues to close the gap between many of her rivals that are peaking as they approach the age of 30.
The result was even more impressive due to the fact that she was 37th out of the gate and the course was a lot softer than when the seeded athletes were completing their run.
Of those athletes two couldn’t be split with Slovenia’s Tina Maze and Switzerland’s Dominique Gisin both claiming the Gold medal in a time of 1:41.57, just 3.22 seconds ahead of Small.
The youngster continues to improve day-by-day and was excited by another strong result.
“I was really happy with that,” said Small.
“I was aiming for top 30 and I did that. It was definitely a much better run than my Super Combined Downhill run.
“The time behind (the leaders) I am really stoked with as that is the closest I have been to the World Cup guys all season.”
Six competitors didn’t finish the course with the balmy Sochi conditions again making it difficult for Small and the rest of the field as they hit speeds in excess of 100 km/ph.
“The parts of the course that were in the sun were quite difficult.
“During inspection we weren’t allowed to go onto the parts of the course because of the (soft) snow.
“When you went over Devil’s Spine it was quite soft and you had to be really aware that that was the worst place to make a mistake because you just wouldn’t make it up. I knew I had to ski that section well so I’m happy.”
Small has proved she has experience beyond her years and is making sure she is learning something at every bump and turn at her first Olympic Games.
“I’ve learnt a lot about the course and the technique of the turns which will really help me on the World Cup courses moving forward.”
With five events on her program the youngster will now have a couple of days before hitting the course for the Super G.
“I will have a bit of a rest now and then do some training and then I have the Super G coming up which I am really excited for.
“There will definitely be more people in the Super G so we will see what start number I am to see how much I can improve on my ranking but I am definitely excited for it.”
In what was a thrilling event Maze and Gisin could not be split with fellow Swiss competitor Laura Gut claiming the bronze just a further 0.1 seconds back.
Maze, who came onto the course 21st, was up by 0.38 seconds at the final interval before just holding on to claim her first ever Olympic Gold after winning dual Silver medals in Vancouver.
Maze’s success continues Slovenia’s surprising run in Sochi having now claimed a Gold, a Silver and two bronze in the opening five days of competition.
-Australian Olympic Committee