Once more a long way from the dry slopes of Kilternan, Cormac Comerford has finished 37th in the men’s super-G on the fearsome Stelvio downhill course, his second Winter Olympics appearance at Milano Cortina.
Setting off the last of the 42 competitors, the ski race piste increasingly cut up and rutted by that stage, Comerford held his nerve and focus through the 46 gates, which had taken out five of the more experienced skiers ahead of him. The combination of high speed and immense technicality left little room for error.
Franjo von Allmen from Switzerland produced another sensational performance to win his third gold medal of the Games, matching a couple of Winter Olympics legends in the process. For the second time in five days, von Allmen upset his compatriot and pre-race favourite Marco Odermatt, who had to settle for bronze.
The 2,414m course above Bormio was less icy than for last Saturday’s downhill, where Comerford had finished 34th on his Winter Olympics debut. By the time of his run visibility had deteriorated too, still the 29-year-old Comerford was well pleased with his effort.
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“I knew I had the capability, the strength and the power to challenge this slope,” said Comerford. “It wasn’t as fast as I would have liked, but it’s all experience for me, and learning in the speed events.
“I was a little tentative on a couple of spots, one or two areas like the Canalino, I really tried to pin it down in the end and keep it as clean as possible. It was getting a lot more humid, and kind of wet and sticky. I think I managed all right.
“But I’m really proud that I had the opportunity. There’s a lot of carry-over that I can take into the slalom and giant slalom, like the visualisation.
“The hype around the Stelvio slope is huge – everyone calls it the toughest downhill in the world, and it’s pretty gnarly. When the going gets tough, that’s when I get going. I love the challenge, and it’s great fun in the end.”
His time of 1:34.58 left him just under 10 seconds behind Von Allmen’s gold medal effort, the 24-year-old Swiss star clocking 1:25.32. Among those failing to finish was Italian hope Dominik Paris, who had won the bronze medal in the downhill last Saturday.
The warmer temperatures meant pre-race form possibly didn’t count as much, although there was no stopping Von Allmen, who added a third gold medal in the Alpine skiing after winning the downhill last Saturday, before adding a second gold on Monday in the men’s team combined event, along with Tanguy Nef.
Von Allmen’s time of 1:25.32 on the seventh run left him just .13 ahead of Ryan Cochran-Siegle from the US, who had the set the early pace in the third run. Also winning silver four years ago, Cochran-Siegle was nonetheless delighted, the Vermont skier coming back from four serious knee surgeries, including a cartilage transplant from a cadaver.
Odermatt, the pre-race favourite who set off on the 10th run, had to settle for bronze in 1:25.60, .28 behind his compatriot.
Only two other male skiers have previously won three Alpine skiing medals in the same Winter Olympics: French legend Jean-Claude Killy in 1968, and before that Toni Sailer from Austria, who won his three gold medals in 1956 at age 20.
Von Allmen also becomes the first Swiss winner of the Olympic men’s super-G.
“I don’t really feel like the Alpine star here at the Olympics. I need a little more time to put those feelings in a place where they need to be,” Von Allmen said.
Comerford, like Von Allmen, is not finished yet, and will next compete in the two slalom events, which are his speciality. First up is the Giant Slalom on Saturday, followed by the Slalom next week, both of which involve two runs, with the combined times to count for the final placings.
The Dublin skier first discovered the sport at age eight on the dry slopes of the Ski Club of Ireland in Kilternan, qualifying for these Winter Games on his fourth attempt. Next up in Milano Cortina for Team Ireland is Thomas Maloney Westgaard, who on Friday goes in the 10km Freestyle cross-country in Predazzo.
