Lara Gut in tears again at Sochi Olympics
KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia (AP) — Lara Gut was reduced to tears, again.
The talented Swiss skier finally made it onto the Olympic stage this year in Sochi, but her first two races have been unhappy experiences.
On Wednesday, Gut cried in disappointment when her high-speed downhill run earned only a bronze medal, 0.10 seconds too slow to force a three-way tie for gold.
"I'm really sorry for my tears and that I didn't look so happy at the finish," Gut wrote on her Facebook account an hour after sharing a news conference with co-winners Dominique Gisin and Tina Maze.
"It's the first time that I saw that gold medal so close and I'm sorry for my mistake," the 22-year-old Gut said. "But to be on the Downhill podium at the Olympics with such great athletes as Tina and Dominique make me proud!"
Emotions, as usual, are very near the surface for Gut.
On Monday, Gut began the slalom leg of super-combined in the silver-medal slot after downhill, but was soon crying after skiing out and failing to finish.
Two days later, Gut again did not hide her feelings after crossing the finish line to see she was trailing Gisin.
She bowed her head, placed both hands on her helmet and then spread her arms wide in exasperation. She seemed unable to understand how her obvious speed — clocking the fastest speed-check all day at more than 64 mph (104 kph) — did not translate into the fastest time.
"It's cool to win a bronze, but when you know you can do more, at the beginning I think it's normal to be a bit disappointed," Gut said in the finish area.
For the Swiss skier, it was a long wait to even start an Olympic downhill.
She was predicted to be Lindsey Vonn's toughest challenger at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics after pushing the American at the world championships when she was only 17. But Gut missed the entire Olympic season after dislocating her right hip in off-season training.
She did not watch Vonn's gold medal run on television, saying that it clashed with her first day back on skis.
"Four years (ago) I wasn't able to start in the Olympics so I have no reason to be unhappy with my bronze," said Gut, who has a World Cup downhill victory this season.
The Olympic super-G is on Saturday. Although it's not the steep and icy slope she prefers, Gut was already a likely favorite based on her three World Cup wins in the discipline.
"My bronze today is going to help me," Gut said. "When you're an athlete and you know you can win more medals, one is never enough. Even if it's gold."
