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Alice Robinson has claimed an eighth-place in Giant Slalom, missing out on the medals by the tiniest of margins, finishing 0.80s behind winner Federica Brignone (ITA) and 0.18s off the silver medal position.
Conditions at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre in Cortina d’Ampezzo were ideal, with clear blue skies overhead and cold temperatures delivering the hard and fast snow conditions needed for ski racing.
Giant Slalom is a technical event which requires strength and precision. Contested over two runs with the combined times determining the final placings, only the racers who complete their first run get to take a second run.
Set on the iconic Olympia delle Tofane, the rolling terrain would challenge the racers and punish even the smallest mistake. Robinson would later describe it as “one of the hardest GS hills we’ve had. It was by no means an easy hill. It doesn’t have to be steep and icy to be challenging. It’s got rollers and changes of direction, so I think it makes it tough.”
With Robinson’s coach, Nils Coberger, selected as the course setter for run one, the question was whether the opening set would play to the Kiwi’s strengths. In the end, it would be the second course set with tighter, more technical turns where she found her power.
Starting from bib six, it took Robinson a few turns to settle into her rhythm. A couple of small mid-course errors left her a fraction late into the gates, but she recovered well and showed strong control over the finish jump.
At the end of the first run, Robinson would be sitting in 10th place, 1.09s behind Brignone.
After a break to reset the course for the second run, the start order for the top 30 racers was reversed. This format gives those further down the standings the advantage of a cleaner piste and the opportunity to improve their time and chase the leaders. Robinson would be 21st to start.
Powering out of the gate, Robinson looked strong and confident on course, charging her way through and searching for speed at every turn, but couldn’t quite beat the clock.
“Coming into the shade where the light goes out, she tried to overpower the ski a little bit, and you could see the snow broke away in a couple of places,” explained Robinson’s coach Tim Cafe. “You can’t blame her; she was giving it everything she could to try and win. It’s gutting. 0.18s off a silver medal - letting that sink in a little bit.
“I was pretty disappointed,” Robinson said, describing the moment when she first crossed the line to see that she’d missed out on a medal spot. “I came down, and I saw I was in fourth (and that point) and only 12 hundredths behind. It was hard, but then watching the rest of the race play out, it actually ended up a bit better than I thought.
“There have been so many emotions for me in the past month. It was just quite a big day. I really wasn’t sure what to expect today. I think GS has been a bit of a question mark for me the past two months. From having such a good start to the season and then I was really struggling a lot, especially in the last race. So, today I really didn’t know what was going to happen. I felt a lot better on my skis but I didn’t really feel like I was going to be in the running for a medal Then to have it be so close and let it slip away, it was quite sad but I’m proud at the same time.”
“It’s been a lot of work for everyone,” added Cafe. “Last Olympics were really challenging for Alice and I’m so happy that she’s back to skiing well again. Three weeks ago, she had a major crash and then some really challenging races. What we’ve been through in the last month, it’s going to take a bit of time to reflect on that.”
It was another good day for the home crowd with Italy’s Federica Brignone backing up her win in the Super-G with a gold medal in Giant Slalom.
Remarkably, Sara Hector (SWE) and Thea Louise Stjernesund (NOR) would post exactly the same times on both their first and second runs, finishing in the silver medal position.