Italy’s Federica Brignone on Sunday won her second gold medal of a fairy-tale Olympics in the giant slalom as Norway’s Johannes Klaebo claimed a record ninth Winter Games crown.
Brignone, who was on the surgeon’s table just 10 months ago, celebrated in front of passionate home fans in the Cortina d’Ampezzo sunshine.
With women’s super-G gold already under her belt, she clocked a winning combined time of 2 minutes, 13.50 seconds.
Photo: Reuters
In an incredible ending, Sweden’s Sara Hector and Norway’s Thea Louise Stjernesund shared silver after posting identical times in both their first and second runs to finish 0.62 seconds behind the winner.
Brignone’s victory marks an astonishing comeback for the 35-year-old, who suffered a broken leg in April last year that required extensive surgery.
“I would exchange my medals to come back and not have this injury, of this I am sure,” said Brignone, referring to the pain she suffered.
Photo: AP
“My attitude was just to be happy to be here,” she added. “That was already an achievement. Just to be back as an athlete. Maybe that’s the feeling. I was not feeling pressure, not so much. A bit more after the super-G. I was able to think about my skiing and let it go.”
It was a different story for US star Mikaela Shiffrin, who suffered more Olympic heartbreak, finishing a lowly 11th.
The two-time gold medalist, who is the most successful skier in history in World Cup events, has failed to win an Olympic medal of any color since the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.
The 30-year-old came into the Milano Cortina Olympics in red-hot form, but she flopped in the team combined event and was little better on Sunday.
Shiffrin has one more medal chance, in the slalom tomorrow.
In Tesero, Klaebo led home the Norwegian 4 x 7.5km relay team to win the ninth gold medal of his career, more than any man or woman has ever achieved in the Winter Olympics.
It was also his fourth gold medal of these Games and he has two more events still to come.
The Norwegian quartet were so far ahead that Klaebo was able to wave to the crowd with his ski poles in the home straight before he was greeted by his celebrating teammates.
The 29-year-old overtakes three of his compatriots who have won eight golds at Winter Olympics — former cross-country skiers Marit Bjoergen and Bjoern Daehlie, and former biathlete Ole Einar Bjoerndalen.
“It was good to share the top with them for a couple of days. It feels even better to be on the top alone for sure,” Klaebo said. “It’s a big achievement, and I think it will take some time to let it sink in.”
Dutch speedskating star Jutta Leerdam was denied a second gold medal in Italy by teammate Femke Kok in a thrilling 500m contest.
Kok turned the tables on Leerdam, the girlfriend of American YouTuber Jake Paul, after the positions were reversed in the 1,000m event earlier in the Games.
Taiwan’s Chen Ying-chu finished joint 11th.
“King of the Moguls” Mikael Kingsbury signed off his Olympic career in style, winning the men’s dual moguls to collect his fifth freestyle skiing medal.
Britain celebrated the most successful Winter Olympics campaign in their history after winning two more gold medals to take their tally to three — in snowboard cross and skeleton.
Canada’s ice hockey stars hammered France 10-2 in an awesome show of power to finish the preliminary round with three thumping wins from three matches, while the US also stayed perfect with a 5-1 victory against Germany.
Canada are favorites for the title, but the US are desperate for their first men’s gold since the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” in Lake Placid.
Germany’s Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin are in the lead after the short program in the figure skating pairs competition, while favorites Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan are down in fifth place.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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