Winter Olympics

Ed Drake finished 29th, his best Olympic result so far - Image courtesy of BOA

Men's Super Combined

Sunday 20 February saw the men's Super Combined take place under sunny skies In Whistler.

The Downhill section came first and it was the big Norwegian Aksel Lund Svindal who laid down the gauntlet, his fine run of form continuing as he set the early pace and held on to the fastest time throughout.

After gold in the Downhill event, Didier Defago had to settle for third after fellow Austrian Carlo Janka came in second.

Both men were dramatically pushed down though by Italian Dominik Paris, who left nothing on the course and surprised everyone by skiing into second position.

All eyes turned to American Bode Miller, but he failed to keep his control through the whole run and had to settle for seventh, leaving him a lot to do in the slalom to get on the podium.

Ski Club sponsored rider Ed Drake came in at 33rd, just missing out on the top 30 which would have given him a favourable early start in the Slalom that followed.

The Slalom got underway and it was defending Olympic champion Ted Ligarty, who came from 15th after the Downhill to set the time to beat early on.

Ligarty was sitting pretty for some time until Ivica Kostelic, coming from ninth in the Downhill, seized his moment to take the gold medal position.

But Kostelic didn't last long at the top, as the reformed maverick Bode Miller produced his finest run to put him at the summit, by 0.33 seconds.

Of the challengers left, Defago made an early mistake and never recovered, and Paris couldn't build on his remarkable Downhill result as he crossed his skis early on.  Carlo Janka looked good at the top but couldn't hold his rhythm.

It was left to the in-form Svindal to spoil Bode's party but the pressure was too much as he straddled a pole and skied off the course.

Having already won a bronze in the Downhill and a silver in the Super-G, Bode could now celebrate the full set with his first Olympic gold medal, thrilling Americans and partisans alike.

Ed Drake produced a classy run, 24th fastest in the Slalom, giving 29th place overall and his best result in The Olympics to date!

Men's Skier Cross

Where to start?  In a remarkable Olympic debut for the sport it was breathless, adrenaline fuelled, organised chaos from the get-go. 

The qualifiers were relatively coherent.  One man versus the course as the thirty-three competitors all skied their fastest down a course that was surprisingly left unchanged from the Snowboard Cross earlier in the week.

The course was so demanding that several racers were forced into speed checks, surely the first time the Olympics have witnessed a snow-plough in anger?

Switzerland's Michael Schmid looked the man to beat early on, and in the first 1/8 final -  where four qualifiers were up against each other in each race  - he eased to victory.

In the second 1/8 final, Errol Kerr from Jamaica saw off his Canadian, German and Norwegian counterparts - It could only happen in Skier Cross!

The home crowd were cheering on another reformed bad-boy.  Canadian Christopher Delbosco didn't disappoint, as he went through to the semi-finals, joining fellow countryman Davey Barr.

The semis saw Schmid continue his march to the final.  After Barr came in third it was left to Delbosco to keep Canadian hopes alive in the other semi-final. 

After losing out in the early tussle, an outrageous move saw him scrap his way into second and qualify for the final along with Norwegian Audun Groenvold as they joined Schmid and Andreas Matt from Austria.

The final was dramatic, Schmid was untroubled throughout, but the battle behind him for the bronze medal was frantic, as Delbosco and Groenvold traded millimetres for third place. 

With the roar of the home crowd ringing in his ears Delbosco pushed too hard though and was caught out by the penultimate kicker and as he crashed to the ground, the crowd groaned as Groenvold stole the bronze.

What an event!  Gold for Schmid and Switzerland, sore bodies for everyone else.  Bring on the Ladies' Ski Cross on Tuesday, where TeamGB will be represented by Sarah Sauvey.