Sweden’s Sara Hector wins Olympic giant slalom gold after Mikaela Shiffrin out
Sara Hector smiled as she crossed the finish line on Monday and raised her ski poles to put them on top of her helmet. She seemed to laugh later, as if to say, “Did I really do this?” at the same time as she took her gold during the giant slalom medal ceremony.
And yes, of course, the Swedish racing driver grinned when her coach and others lifted her from the snow to celebrate a career-winning victory that seemed so unlikely for so long but still somehow seemed inevitable lately.
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Hector ended a new career in the best possible way at the Beijing Olympics, and took his first individual win in a slightly larger championship by finishing two runs along a course called The Ice River at the Yanqing Alpine Skiing Center in a total time of 1 minute, 55.69 seconds.
She credited the work with a mental trainer, better equipment, improved technology and “working really, really hard” for turning her results around.
Hector won his first World Cup victory all the way back in December 2014 – and then waited for seven years to become number 2 in December. And then suddenly, as if she had discovered the secret to success, she hit No. 3 and 4 in January. Everyone was in the giant slalom.
According to Per Jonsson, Sweden’s coach for the technical events, this meant that Hector went to the games in 2022 “came in as a favorite, a little neighbor.”
Federica Brignone from Italy was 0.28 seconds slower over the two legs to add a silver medal to the bronze she won in GS at the Pyeongchang Games 2018 behind champion Mikaela Shiffrin, who fell during Monday’s opening hours earlier and was eliminated.
“She’s a super, super kind person, so I was just sorry for her,” Hector said.
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Lara Gut-Behrami from Switzerland was third, 0.72 after Hector, and now has another bronze left next to what she collected in the downhill at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
Hector’s previous record at alpine skiing competitions? In four races during two previous trips to the Olympics, Hector has never done better than 10th place. And in 10 individual races over six appearances in the world championships, the best thing she did was to come seventh (even though she participated in three team competition medals at worlds).
“Sara Hector has been climbing all season and it’s so amazing to see her,” said Paula Moltzan, the best American finisher in 12th place.
After winning two weeks ago in San Vigilio di Marebbe, Italy, she tried to explain this latest run that placed her at the top of the World Cup giant slalom transition on the way to Beijing.
She said she was “easily settled” and that created problems for her. But recently, Hector said then, she can “really feel calm” and that allows her to focus better.
“It took me a long time to understand what I needed,” she said then. “Now I know a lot more about what I need and it’s been fun finding out.”
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Monday’s race was delayed by about 15 minutes when American Nina O’Brien, who was sixth fastest in the opening race, screamed in pain over the finish line after tripping through the last gate when her skis crossed in front of her. She was checked by medical personnel and American team personnel before being taken away on a sled.
U.S. Ski Team spokeswoman Megan Harrod said O’Brien was “alert and responsive.”
The skier just before, Tessa Worley from France, owner of four world titles and currently second in the World Cup GS standings, crashed on the lower part of the track and hit a gate when she tried a left turn. She spun around, dropped a ski and slid down the hill before getting up and taking the rest of the way to the bottom.