Norway took bronze in the team competition after drama – NRK Sport – Sports news, results and broadcast schedule
Norway beat the USA in the bronze final in the team competition in parallel slalom and secured the medal. Thea Louise Stjernesund dominated for the Norwegian team, and crushed Mikaela Shiffrin in the bronze final.
She sent Norway up in a 2-1 lead, before River Radamus and Timon Haugan were to decide it all.
Haugan drove out, and gave the Americans the opportunity, but Radamus came to the finish half a second before sent. Norway won Olympic bronze with the best overall time.
– Thea Louise Stjernesund carries the whole team on her shoulders, exclaimed NRK’s alpine expert Nina Haver-Løseth.
The 25-year-old rushed down the slopes, crushing several of the men. Names like Adam Zampa, Tommy Ford, Justin Murisier. Alex Vinatzer and Johannes Strolz were all driven away by Stjernesund.
– She was completely superior. She delivers when it comes, Haver-Løseth beats fast.
She is supported by her teammates.
– You could say that she is the world’s best girl at this here. At least today. Without her, we would not have had a medal around her neck. It is a team effort, everyone must deliver, but what she does today is completely wild, says Fabian Wilkens Solheim
––Thea and Fabian do a fantastic job today, which means that we have the opportunity to stand her. I am so proud of them and the whole team, says Maria Tviberg to NRK.
Solheim, Tviberg, Stjernesund and Haugan represented Norway, with reserves Rasmus Windingstad and Mina Fürst Holtmann.
Drama from the start
It was dramatic in absolutely every heat until the semifinals.
Already in the first heat, the quarter-final against Poland, it was dramatic for Norway. Both Maria Tviberg and Fabian Wilkens Solheim drove out, and thus it ended 2-2.
Poland only needed to finish in the time of 23.70 in the last round, but was a second too late. Norway continues on the overall best time, much thanks to a very strong time from Thea Louise Stjernesund.
Then it was dramatic again against France in the quarterfinals. Stjernesund knocked down again to a brilliant, but Timon Haugan drove out and Maria Tviberg clearly lost.
Thus, Fabian Wilkens Solheim had the knife to his throat. He had to beat veteran Mathieu Faivre, and clock in before the clock showed 24.10 seconds. He managed this with the smallest possible margin, and sent Norway to the semifinals with two hundredths.
Frustrated by the weather
In the semifinals, it said stop against gold winner Austria. Stjernesund once again delivered a winning duel, but the time was not as strong as before.
She thinks the wind treasures trouble.
– I was a little bitter for was the round where we lost the ticket to the final. There I saw on the board that my time was slow and it was annoying. I wore a bra, but we had headwinds. There was a bit of frustration with the weather, says Stjernesund.
Katharina Liensberger let go of the same headwind and set a stronger time than Stjernesund. Thus, Austria moved on to better overall time.
But Norway did the job in the bronze final, and defended the medal from 2018.
– It feels completely wild. It is completely sick to stand here with the medal around your neck, it has been a dream all your life. Completely raw.