Radamus and O’Brien out in first round of individual parallel
Americans gear up for giant slalom finals on Thursday and Friday
Marco Trovati/AP photo
One day after leading Team USA to its first world championship mixed team parallel medal, River Radamus and Nina O’Brien were ousted in the first round of the men’s and women’s individual parallel event on Wednesday morning in Meribel, France. Radamus was defeated by Austrian Adrian Pertl — who would go on to place fourth — after skiing off the 19-turn Roc de Fer course in the second of two runs.
“I felt really locked in, skiing with a lot of confidence, so I was excited to come in today,” Radamus, who placed 15th overall, said.
“Didn’t risk enough in the first run, I think I should have shifted into another gear. I shifted into the gear on the second run, felt like I was skiing fast, but made a mistake near the bottom and went out. Obviously it’s disappointing, but I’ll take the tradeoff of yesterday for being a little more tired today and not coming out firing the way I wanted to.”
Germany’s Alexander Schmid took gold over Austria’s Dominik Raschner while Norway’ Timon Haugan claimed bronze.
O’Brien finished 0.05 seconds behind German Lena Duerr in the first round and wound up ninth overall. Maria Tviberg of Norway won gold, Wendy Holdener of Switzerland was the silver medalist, and Thea Stjernesund rounded out the podium for Norway.
Support Local Journalism
“I think this event is really fun and I’m really happy I qualified for the final. It was close at the end, and I tried, so it gives me I guess a little more time to rest for tomorrow’s GS,” she said.
Both athletes said they’re optimistic going into the giant slalom.
“I feel pretty good. Busy last two days for sure, but I feel like my skiing is in a good spot,” said O’Brien, who competes in the event on Thursday.
Radamus, who competes in his specialty event on Feb. 17, added, “Still super excited for the GS; feel like I’m skiing well and I’m excited to throw it down.”
The first run for the women’s giant slalom is tomorrow at 1:45 a.m. MST, with the second run to follow at 5:30 a.m. The men’s giant slalom qualifier is tomorrow as well, with the final taking place at 2 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. MST on Friday.
