It was no day for amateurs. It wasn’t a great one for professionals either.
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Croatia’s Janica Kostelic kept her grip in a Darwinian slalom that many top skiers couldn’t finish Wednesday and planted her country’s flag on the podium for the third time in these Winter Olympics.
Kostelic, who foundered early in the season as she worked her way back from knee surgery, won her second gold medal and third overall in a race made treacherous by a surfeit of fresh, deep snow. World Cup slalom standings leader Laure Pequegnot took silver to extend the French women’s alpine success, and Anja Paerson of Sweden was third.
“My two runs were bad, but I guess everyone skied badly today because of the course,” said Kostelic, who prevailed in a total time of 1 minute 46.10 seconds. “Me and Laure found the best way down.”
The whiteout continued for the U.S. women’s alpine team. Three of the four U.S. skiers crashed in their first run in rugged conditions on the aptly named Know You Don’t course at Deer Valley Resort, including top medal hope Kristina Koznick of Burnsville, Minn.
Starting third in a steady snowfall that made every turn into trench warfare, Koznick negotiated the top of the course well, fought through the middle section and looked as if she would post a fast enough time to be among the leaders. But she tilted off balance after whacking the sixth-to-last gate and wiped out on the next turn with just four gates between her and the finish.
Koznick lay curled in the snow for a moment before hoisting herself and sliding the short distance to the finish line, her frame limp. It was the first time she had failed to finish a slalom all season.
Her trademark pigtails and perky smile were still in place after the aborted run, but she broke down afterward as she described her disappointment.
“My coach said I’d be crying today,” Koznick said, wiping tears from her cheeks. “He said, `You’ll be crying either way, good or bad.’
“I’m proud of myself for the way I focused. It wasn’t nerves. It wasn’t anything. This is what I had and I put it all on the line.”
Koznick, who has trained independently from the U.S. team with her boyfriend, ex-assistant U.S. coach Dan Stripp, for the last two seasons, said hacking out turns in the wet, heavy snow felt like “riding a bull.” Nineteen of the 68 starters crashed in the first run and another 11 went down in the second, including several top-10 World Cup skiers.
“This is a day I’ve gone through in my head so many times,” Koznick said. “I promised myself I wouldn’t open the door to failure. What’s most disappointing today is that I know I’m the best in the world.”
Sarah Schleper of Vail, Colo., who lost a ski on the first run, called it “just another lesson.”
She and Koznick will have one more crack at Olympic success in Friday’s giant slalom. Next week they return to Europe, where Koznick has a chance to top Pequegnot for the World Cup slalom title with one race remaining.
“That last race is going to be a big race for her,” said Stripp, who embraced Koznick at the finish line, then held her face between his hands and murmured words of encouragement. “That’s a season-long thing she’s been working for.
“The plan today was not to be afraid of anything, just go. She was doing that. It stinks.”