Olympic meltdown: Norway's Atle Lie McGrath loses gold medal in slalom, then control of emotions

BORMIO, Italy — Norway’s Atle Lie McGrath saw his gold-medal hopes slip away in the Olympic slalom and decided to send his ski poles sailing along with them.

After tossing each pole over the netting, he then climbed the fencing on the side of the Stelvio course to begin his long walk toward the wilderness. It was part of an Olympic meltdown that turned the men’s slalom into high-tragic theater Monday.

As the first-run leader, McGrath was the last to go among the top-30 racers. He had a medal within his sights — until he straddled a gate and was out. He lost a medal and then control of his emotions in a race won by Loic Meillard of Switzerland.

Once McGrath reached the forest, he sat down in the snow and then fell back, breathing heavily. A medical person came over to check on him.

McGrath later arrived in the finish area and walked away without talking.

“It’s just heartbreaking,” said his teammate, Timon Haugan, who finished fourth. “He's doing everything perfect. He did a very good first run, put himself in a position to win the Olympic gold. He does everything right and then that happens in 15 seconds."

Bronze medalist Henrik Kristoffersen, McGrath's Norwegian teammate, knows the feeling. Kristoffersen was leading the slalom at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games only to ski out in the second run.

“In the end, it’s another ski race. In the end, it’s not going to make or break Atle's career,” Kristoffersen said. "He is a great skier. If he keeps going like he’s going, he will have great success for the future. This is just our sport.

“That’s how it goes sometimes. I’ve been in this exact same position, and done the same thing (skied out). And yes, it hurts. But it is what it is.”

Kristoffersen understands McGrath's outburst, too.

“That's allowed,” he said. “This is sports. What are sports without the emotions?”

Meillard felt the same way.

“I’ve been in his place other times — slalom is so tough,” Meillard said. “You can be the best in the start and straddle the first gate. The beauty of slalom is that when it works out it’s beautiful. I was definitely sorry for him, but at the end, all the times he won when I skied out — that’s part of the game.”

McGrath has been racing with a heavy heart, with his grandfather dying the day of the opening ceremony. He wore an armband as a tribute.

“What he's gone through these last 10, 12 days, it's been really tough,” Haugan said. “He's been really sad. He started to do better and today he's going through ... we need to really back him up today.”