BORMIO, Italy – Atle Lie McGrath’s gold medal hopes in the Olympic slalom slipped away. His ski poles were then thrown away. And then he simply staggered through the snow towards the forest.
It was all part of an epic Olympic collapse that turned Monday’s race into a tragic theater.
Click on the drama here.
“I thought I would get some rest, which wasn’t the case,” the Norwegian ski racer said of his withdrawal from the course after losing a medal. “Because photographers and police found me in the woods. But I just needed some time for myself.”
Alexis Boichard/Agence Zoom via Getty Images
McGrath, born in Vermont but raised in Norway, competed in the final run of the final men’s race at the Milan Cortina Games with a big lead in his best event. But after straddling a gate, McGrath lost a medal and then control of his emotions in a race won by Loic Meillard of Switzerland.
McGrath, 25, threw every pole over the safety net along the Stelvio course. He then climbed the fence on the other side of the trail and made his way through the snow to the edge of the wilderness, where he lay on his back.
McGrath later arrived at the finish area and walked away without speaking. More than two hours later, he met the media at a nearby hotel in Bormio.
“I’m normally a guy who’s really good when it comes to perspective on things,” he said. “And if I can’t ski well in a race, I can at least tell myself that I’m healthy and my family is healthy and the people I love are here. So that’s nice, but that hasn’t been the case. I’ve lost someone I love so much and that makes it very difficult.”
McGrath races with a heavy heart, as his grandfather died on the day itself the opening ceremony. He wore a bracelet in tribute.
“What he has been through in the last ten or twelve days has been very tough,” said teammate Timon Haugan, who finished fourth in Monday’s race. “He has been very sad. He started to do better and today it continues… we really have to support him today.”
McGrath was also close to a medal. Very close. His mistake happened right in front of a Swiss coach standing on the course, whose celebration of Meillard’s now guaranteed gold medal caused the team to later apologize to the Norwegians.
“I gave myself the absolute best chance you could get today,” McGrath said. “I had such great skiing, but I still couldn’t get it done. So that’s what really hurts.”
“It’s just heartbreaking,” he said. “He’s doing everything perfectly. He’s done a really good first run and put himself in a position to win the Olympic gold. He’s doing everything right and then it happens in 15 seconds.”
