Slovakia’s Petra Vlhova yesterday produced a stunning second leg to win Olympic slalom gold after the US’ Mikaela Shiffrin slid out of medal contention with a botched first run.
Vlhova clocked a combined total of 1 minute, 44.98 seconds over the two runs to edge Austria’s reigning world champion Katharina Liensberger into silver by 0.08 seconds, with Switzerland’s Wendy Holdener claiming bronze 0.12 seconds behind Vlhova.
“I gave everything I had, and at the end I am Olympic champion,” Vlhova said. “I have been dreaming all my life to win an Olympics or just to have medals. I have a lot of emotions right now, inside of me. This season I was really strong and today I gave everything.”
Photo: AFP
Shiffrin, as she had done in the giant slalom at these Games, slid out of the first leg of the slalom to blast the field wide open.
A double Olympic gold medalist, she was one of the big favorites.
“I feel a lot of disappointment. My performance is a huge letdown so far,” Shiffrin said. “Today I wish there had been a little more space and more time.”
Photo: EPA-EFE
Shiffrin made an absolute hash of her run, sliding wide on a turn high up to make it impossible to realign quickly enough for the next gate.
Shocked gasps rang around the finish area where a few hundred spectators watched in silence as the 26-year-old immediately skied to the side of the course, slumping down in the snow, head in hands.
After seven of the nine slalom races of this FIS Alpine Ski World Cup season, Vlhova tops the standings ahead of Shiffrin.
The Slovak has six world championship medals to her name, but has drawn a blank at the last two Olympics, with a best finish of fifth, and she has often had to settle for second best to Shiffrin on the biggest stages.
Yet on the testing Ice River course at the Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Centre north of Beijing, it was Vlhova who held her nerve after finishing eighth fastest in the first run.
The 26-year-old laid down the fastest second run and watched on with increasing nervousness as the seven racers ahead of her failed to match her time.
“Honestly, it was really difficult to be calm and focused on my skiing, but I had a lot of power from my team. They trusted me, they believed in me and they repeated to me: ‘You are so strong, just ski free, enjoy and focus on your skiing, nothing else,’” Vlhova said.
A total of 51 nations were represented in the 88-strong turnout for the first leg from skiing minnows as diverse as Taiwan, Hungary, Israel, Lebanon, Madagascar, Malaysia, Peru, Thailand and Turkey.
Taiwan’s Lee Wen-yi placed 50th with a total time of 2 minutes, 46.04 seconds after two runs. She was 1 minute, 1.06 seconds behind Vlhova.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
The San Francisco Giants signed 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Yang Nien-hsi (陽念希) to a contract worth a total of US$500,000 (NT $16.39 million). At a press event in Taipei on Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Giants’ Pacific Rim Area scout Evan Hsueh (薛奕煌) presented Yang with a Giants jersey to celebrate the signing. The deal consisted of a contract worth US$450,000 plus a US$50,000 scholarship bonus. Yang, who stands at 188 centimeters tall and weighs 85 kilograms, is of Indigenous Amis descent. With his fastest pitch clocking in at 150 kilometers per hour, Yang had been on Hsueh’s radar since playing in the HuaNan Cup
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
RSS