Austrian skier’s brain cramp knocks her off course, podium
Austrian cross-country skier Teresa Stadlober was well on her way to a silver medal. Then came a mental hiccup that cost her a spot on the podium but earned her a place in Olympic history.
With 7 kilometers left in Sunday’s 30-kilometer race, Stadlober inexplicably veered right on a downhill slope while the rest of the skiers went left. By the time she had corrected her course, she had fallen from second place to eighth. Her medal hopes had vanished. “I don’t know, I really don’t know,” said an embarrassed Stadlober, who ended up in ninth place.
“I took the wrong way. I had a blackout. I don’t know why I took the wrong way.”
Stadlober’s misfortune nearly overshadowed the fact that winner Marit Bjoergen became the only Olympian to win five medals in Pyeongchang. The Norwegian finishes her career with 15 medals, the most decorated Winter Games athlete of all time.
“When I look behind me and see what I have done, it’s incredible,” said Bjoergen, who has won eight gold medals. “It has been an amazing career. This is my last Olympics, and to finish like this is incredible.”
Stadlober said it would have been better for her if the course had been marked in colors, but she refused to blame the setup for her error.
“You have to know the course,” she said. “I’m really sad and disappointed that it has happened because I had a really good day. Before I took the wrong way I thought I could fight for a medal.”
Crushed garlic:
Sweden beat South Korea’s “Garlic Girls” 8-3 for gold in women’s curling. Sweden’s women have medaled five times in the six Olympics since curling was added.
The silver was the first curling medal for South Korea.
“We have been through a lot so that we could blaze a trail,” skip Kim Eun-jung said.
German sweep:
Francesco Friedrich finished off a bobsled sweep for Germany, driving his four-man sled to gold. Won Yunjong of South Korea and Nico Walther of Germany tied for second and shared the silver.
Not only did Germany win gold in all three bobsled events, matching its feat from 2006, it also became the first country to win six sliding gold medals at a single Olympics.
Bad behavior:
Canadian ski cross competitor Dave Duncan, his wife and his coach apologized for taking a car in front of a bar and driving it while inebriated.
Duncan, wife Maja and Canadian technical coach William Raine paid fines and were released.
The Duncans said their behavior “was not up to the standards expected of us as members of the Canadian Olympic team.”