February 13, 2022 - Swiss Marco Odermatt is the Olympic giant slalom champion. He celebrated in front of Slovenian Žan Kranjec (+0.19), and bronze medalist Frenchman Mathieu Faivre (+1.34). Croatian skiers Filip Zubčić and Samuel Kolega took 10th and 21st place.
Croatian skiers Filip Zubčić and Samuel Kolega took 10th and 21st place, respectively, in today's giant slalom race at the Winter Olympics in Beijing, reports Index.hr.
After the first run in which Zubčić was 15th and Kolega 24th, and then delays due to unfavorable weather conditions, the second race was held in better conditions, and in the final standings both improved their results. Marco Odermatt won in front of the sensational Slovenian Žan Kranjec and Mathieu Faivre.
Zubčić was extremely self-critical after the first run, said it was a disaster and announced that he would be entering the second race with a lot of risk.
"Catastrophe as you saw. I will not enter 30 at all!"
When asked if the severe weather conditions affected his ride, he replied:
"Certainly not, it affected it because I skied criminally, a disaster. This is the worst round in the last three years." And when asked what he needed to do in the second race to stay alive? "Nothing. I will go all-in, whatever happens, happens."
It paid off for him because thanks to the combination of his racing, the potential of being relegated from the competition, and the poorer performance of some skiers, Zubčić ultimately improved his ranking. Thus, he had the ninth time in the second race, which would have been better if he avoided a mistake in the upper part of the track that took away his speed and a few tenths of a second. However, he was the first to cross the finish line and depended on the results of the skiers who followed.
Marco Odermatt confirmed the best time from the first run with an overall victory with a time of 2:09.35, which overtook Kranjec by 19 hundredths of a second and Faivre by 1.34 seconds.
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