Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics – Alpine Skiing – Atle Lie McGrath press conference – Hotel San Lorenzo, Bormio, Italy – February 16, 2026 Atle Lie McGrath of Norway speaks to media at the Norwegian hotel San Lorenzo in Bormio. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
BORMIO, Italy, Feb 16 : No one would have blamed Norway’s Atle Lie McGrath if he had opted to spend the night alone in the woods he sought sanctuary in after his Olympic gold-medal dream was shattered on Monday. The 25-year-old led the men’s slalom after a brilliant first leg but with a 0.59-second cushion over Swiss Loic Meillard as he started his second on the Stelvio course, calamity struck. Shortly after beginning his weave down through the red and blue gates, the World Cup slalom leader made a minor misjudgement and suffered the slalom skiers’ curse – the dreaded straddle – and his hopes of gold went in a flash. As Meillard celebrated becoming Olympic champion down at the finish, a heartbroken McGrath simply wanted to disappear. Shedding his skis and poles he stomped across the piste towards the trees lining the steep course. After stewing in the snow next to the red perimeter fence, he was helped down the slope in a police Ski-Doo before beating a retreat. To his credit, McGrath, whose grandfather Svein Lie died, aged 83, on the day of the opening ceremony and who he so wanted to honour by winning gold, met reporters back at the same team hotel where days earlier he had recounted hiking and cross-country skiing adventures with the man he described as an inspiration. “It’s a mix of shock and just everything in between, it’s like a surreal feeling. I haven’t really experienced anything like it before,” a clearly emotional McGrath said. “I’m normally very good when it comes to perspective on things, if I don’t ski well in a race I can at least say that everyone I love is healthy, but that’s not been the case here. I lost someone I love so much and that makes it more… “It’s not the worst moment of my life, but today is the worst moment of my career. I was hoping to crown off this tough period in my life with something good so it makes it extra tough when you don’t get the chance.” McGrath’s reaction to sporting disappointment echoed that of former F1 driver Mika Hakkinen who famously shed tears in the bushes after spinning out of a race at Monza in 1999. Asked to explain what was going through his mind, U.S.-born McGrath said he had just needed to ‘get away from everything.’ “I didn’t, because photographers and you know the police found me out in the woods. I just needed some time for myself and it’s hard to think that, you know, the next time I’ll be able to ski the Olympics, I’ll be 29 not 25.” A feature of the slalom format is that the leader from the first run goes down last in the second – meaning the pressure is immense even with the healthiest of time advantages. “I skied so great and couldn’t get it done, I don’t know any other sports where you can go from having such an advantaged position to losing it in half a second. It makes Alpine skiing fun to watch and cool when you get it done, but it sucks when you are in the middle of it.”
(Editing by Toby Davis)
