Italy’s 1st gold of the games

Guiliano Razzoli was the last skier down the mountain. Ivica Kostelic of Croatia waited at the bottom, hoping his combined time of 1:39.48 would get him gold.  Olympic gold medalist and bon vivant Alberto Tomba also waited with obvious tense nerves.  He had advised his friend and student to approach today’s slalom differently, and worried Italy would not get the gold medal it hasn’t seen since his 30 years ago. 

Razzoli delivered, beating Kostelic by .16 seconds.  Tomba roared with delight and hugged Razzoli tightly. I wonder if Razzoli takes after Tomba in his social side?  There are still stories floating around about the wild nights he spent celebrating in Calgary.

Andre Myhrer of Sweden is bringing home the bronze, also a milepost for Sweden.  This is the first medal for the country in Alpine skiing in 22 years.

Bode Miller missed a gate in his first run, disqualifying him from the competition.  Ted Ligety also skied out, leaving the US with no contenders.