Stormy Results on the Giant Slalom
After an opening week of Sochi sunshine Aussie trio Lavinia Chrystal, Greta Small and Emily Bamford had to deal with snow, fog and heavy rain as they finished 40th, 41st and 50thin the Women’s Giant Slalom.
Competing in their debut Olympic event Chrystal and Bamford performed well above their rankings while five-event young gun Small also was above her projected finish.
Chrystal finished the two run format with a combined time of 2:48.57, 11.7 seconds off Slovenia’s Tina Maze.
Small was a further 1.09 seconds behind her teammate while Bamford sat 18.93 seconds behind the Gold medalist.
With 22 of the 88 strong-field not finishing the course the Sochi slopes again played havoc with the athletes but the Australian’s all ensured they would make the second run of the competition.
“It’s like a rodeo out there,” said Bamford.
“I went for the cheeky goggle swipe half way down because I couldn’t see anything. It was a brutal course but I finished which was the main thing.”
Chrystal was the most pleased amongst the group.
“I am really happy with today,” the 24-year-old.
“I overtook people in front of me (higher ranked athletes) and no one behind me jumped ahead of me so I’m pretty stoked about that.”
After a 15th place finish in the Super Combined, 29th in the Downhill, and a DNF in the Super-G, Small was hoping for more in the Giant Slalom.
“The conditions are definitely not my suited style.
“I’m a little disappointed. I skied some of the course ok but other parts weren’t so good.”
The trio will now have a quiet day tomorrow before ramping up preparations for their final event – the Slalom.
“I am really excited about the Slalom. Being a night event it is always a fun environment no matter how you go,” said Bamford.
“It will be a great atmosphere, my Slaloms have been going really well and we have been all having some awesome training here,” added Chrystal.
Maze continued her exceptional run as she claimed her second Gold medal of the Sochi Games. Maze was a joint Gold medalist in the Downhill while also claiming a Bronze in the Super Combined.
The Slovenian beat home Austria’s Anna Fenninger, the Gold medalist in the Super-G, with Germany’s Viktoria Rebensburg winning the Bronze medal.
–AOC