Naeslund races to Olympic gold
Feb 17, 2022·Ski Cross
After some incredible competitions and races that we got to witness here at the Genting Snowpark in Zhangjiakou so far in the field of Freestyle, Freeski and Snowboard, it was finally time for the Olympic ski cross show to go down on Thursday.
At the Olympic Winter Games, the women’s and men’s competition take place on two different days, therefore the women opened up the heat show here at Beijing 2022 in quite snowy conditions. The athletes had some tough conditions with the snow falling heavier and heavier, but still they were able to put on a great show of amazing ski cross.
For the big final of the day, season dominator Sandra Naeslund (SWE), Sochi 2014 Olympic gold medallist Marielle Thompson (CAN), three-time SX Crystal Globe winner Fanny Smith (SUI) and Germany’s Daniela Maier got into the gate.
Naeslund had a fantastic start and caught the elements of the start section perfectly, to get into the lead right away. Fanny Smith then got behind in second and Daniela Maier was able to get into third, since Thompson failed to hit the start section perfectly.
Naeslund was in the lead, but Smith and Maier behind her had the absolute advantage of the draft to catch up and get really on the Swedish athlete’s tails. The season long battle between Smith and Naeslund was absolutely going down to this Olympic show. Smith was able to catch up and try to pass Naeslund, however Naeslund’s perfect skiing got her back in front again, however after another small jump, the Swiss athlete again came dangerously close. Still no pass, though.
On the upcoming turns, Naeslund did not leave the door open for Smith to pass as well. In the meantime, Maier came head-to-head with Smith to make a pass on the inside line for second, but came to short on the landing after she doubled two rollers, which of course caused her to lose speed.
That’s when Marielle Thompson managed to sneak by Maier and get into third and right afterwards with all the speed she took away from the next rollers, the Canadian even past Smith into second. In that very moment, Smith was on the right-side line with Thompson just ahead of her to her left and Daniela Maier on the outside left. Fanny Smith then chose to change the line to the left and during that process, she hit Maier with her skis, causing the German to lose balance and speed.
Maier saved herself from a fall, but lost the third spot to Smith. Sandra Naeslund then crossed the finish line as Olympic champion, while Marielle Thompson took silver and seemingly Fanny Smith would walk away with bronze.
However, the jury then decided to review the run for that very incident. After carefully reviewing that scene from different camera angles, the jury then decided to sanction Fanny Smith with a yellow card, which resulted in her being ranked as last in the heat for line deviation and contact from the side, causing and affecting the result.
Therefore, in the end, the official result was that Sandra Naeslund took gold, Marielle Thompson silver, which was her second Olympic medal after gold in Sochi in 2014, and Daniela Maier bronze, which was the first German medal ever at an Olympic ski cross competition.
Afterwards, the internal review board - which consists of three independent experts of the ski cross advisory group from three different nations not involved in the incident - analyzed the case again and unanimously decided that the jury decision was correct.
Tomorrow, Friday, it will be time for the men to bring it on and fight for gold. The program starts with seeding runs at 11:45 LOC and finals are slated to go down at 14:00 LOC. Check your local listings for the where-to-watch info and don’t miss out on the show! It’s going to be amazing!
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