SESTRIERE, Italy – Daron Rahlves desperately wanted an Olympic medal to cap a career that has included a dozen World Cup victories and a world championship in super-G in 2001.
But the 32-year-old Californian’s last bid for an Olympic medal ended midway through the first of two giant slalom runs on Monday, when he missed a gate and didn’t finish the race. Teammate Bode Miller also extended his Olympic medal drought, tying for sixth, as Austria’s Benni Raich took the gold.
On “the big stage,” Rahlves could do no better than ninth in the super-G in these Olympics. A favorite in the downhill, he finished 10th. In two other Olympics, his best result was seventh in the super-G in 1998. Miller, at least, has one last chance for a medal after weeks of pre-Olympic hype: the slalom on Saturday.
“It’s a tough one to walk away from,” said Rahlves said. “It’s a great sport. My career as a ski racer has been pretty amazing, some great experiences.”
Like Rahlves, Ted Ligety, the gold medalist in the combined last week, missed a gate and didn’t finish the race. Erik Schlopy finished 13th.
Rahlves, who won three downhill races before the Olympics and was ranked fifth overall, and third in the downhill season standings, couldn’t put a finger on why he had skied so poorly in the most important event of the season. “It’s been kind of different for each race,” said Rahlves, one of 34 skiers who didn’t complete the first run. “But I knew I had it coming in here. . . .But it’s one of those things that just didn’t happen.”
While Whereas the giant slalom was his last Olympic race, Rahlves plans to finish the World Cup season with races in South Korea and Sweden and then end his career at the U.S. championships in March.
“I don’t want to walk away like this,” he said. “I got a pretty sour taste in my mouth right now, so I want to come out and at least end off with some better skiing than I’ve put together here.”
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PHOTOS (from KRT Photo Service, 202-383-6099): rahlves
AP-NY-02-20-06 1808EST
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