Mathieu Faivre is a man of major events. A year after his two gold medals at the Worlds, the Niçois went for the bronze medal in giant slalom at the Beijing Olympics. World champion in the discipline, the skier from Nice could not do anything against the favorite Marco Odermatt, in gold, and the surprise Slovenian Zan Kranjec. Alexis Pinturault and Thibaut Favrot are joint fifth.
Before this coronation, Mathieu Faivre and the other starters of this second round had to wait a long time, after the postponement of the start by more than an hour, because of the intense snowfall since that night in Yanqing. “How long it was. It was a very long day, a long week in this Olympic atmosphere. There was always the race, the little stress, the ball in the stomach in the background”has also blown Mathieu Faivre in the finish racket, just tanned.
After an incredibly tight first run (ten riders in one second) in the snow, the second took place in better conditions on the freshly groomed Yanqing track. And while this giant was looking for a boss, Alexis Pinturault took control for a while, pulling out the sleeve he could in his condition, he who still suffers from his shoulder.
“Despite the conditions, I manage to grit my teeth, to be almost in the fight with my weapons. These are not the weapons for the outposts, but at the Games you always have to give the maximum.”
But the Frenchman – joined at the time by another Tricolor Thibaut Favrot, surprise of the first round – quickly left the controls to the Slovenian Zan Kranjec, author of an exceptional round which allowed him to be the surprise guest of this podium Olympic, with an unexpected silver medal. Only the big favorite of the day, the ogre Marco Odermatt (World Cup leader), beat him. After his failures in speed, the Swiss finds a smile.
Reigning world champion, Mathieu Faivre, did honor to his status. Starting very strong, the Niçois provided the essentials on increasingly difficult snow to grab the podium and thus afford a first Olympic medal. Made of bronze, it comes to garnish the prize list of a man who is beginning to make a specialty of major events. Because in the World Cup, Faivre had been struggling since the start of the season. But that was before confirming that he is indeed one of the current giants of his discipline.