WINTER OLYMPICS: ARMENIA’S BATTLE WITH THE HILL
By Antranig Dereyan
winter-olympics-armenias-battle-with-the-hill/
Feb ruary 25, 2010
Armenian Weekly sports correspondent Antranig Dereyan reports from
Vancouver.
The men’s alpine giant slalom kicked off from Whistler, Creekside
with only the top 30 skiers advancing for a chance at a second run
and a medal.
Austrian skier Marcel Hirscher had the honors of going first and
finished with an impressive time of 1:17.48. (He would finish the day
without a medal). It was the sixth skier, Carlo Janka from Switzerland,
who set the pace with a time of 1:17.27. But with more skiers left
to come, it was too early to crown him the fastest going into run 2
(although he would be the eventual gold medal winner).
The story of the event was the weather and snow conditions. Out of the
102-man field, 14 did not finish, most notably American Bode Miller.
The DNF list also included Armenian Arsen Nersisyan.
As the top skiers began finishing their respective runs, the
conversation on Canadian television turned to why skiers outside the
top ranked were allowed to run. The conclusion: national pride. In
the crowd, flags from non-skiing countries were waving, as spectators
waited for their skiers to go down the hill. In bib 84, Nersisyan saw
nine skiers go down on the track. Before he knew it (Erdinc Turksever
of Turkey in bib 83 fell on a hard turn), he was racing down the hill.
Nersisyan was only four seconds behind Janka coming through the first
turns. Continuing down the hill, he hit the fast part of the track
(a mix of snow and ice, with accumulating snow that made ruts the
skis could get stuck in), lost his balance, and struggled, but his
leg strength allowed him to keep on his skis.
Now eight seconds behind the pace, he went into another turn, his
right and left skis in unison. But as he turned, his skis started to
wobble. Trying to keep it together, he hit one ski on one of the many
piles of snow, and crashed to one side. His run was over.
"Even though Nersisyan crashed, it was a good effort, especially the
way he kept upright the first time," concluded the Canadian announcers.
Those in the crowd aware of the crash applauded the effort. Nersisyan,
obviously disappointed, skied to the side and exited the track.
***
In the women’s giant slalom, the track again became the story. As it
rained in Downtown Vancouver, the snow fell heavily in the mountains.
As the event’s start time neared, the snow and wind were rigorous. For
the skiers, it was like driving a car in a blizzard, with no windshield
wipers to help.
One by one the skiers did their run. It wasn’t until bib 17, with
American Lindsey Vonn’s turn, that the spectators and commentators
watching understood the treacherous conditions.
Coming down the mountain, nearing the mid-point, Vonn lost control of
her direction. Her skis parted and she skied backwards into the fence.
Though she came away with only a broken right middle finger, it was
painful to watch and her accident should have been the end of the
competition for that day-but it wasn’t.
After Vonn’s fall, the snow continued falling and track conditions
worsened. Bib wearing 28, 30, 34, 40, 47, 50, 57, 60, 64, 65, 68,
71, 75, 78, and 82 were all DNF for one reason or another, not seeing
were to turn or how far to take the turn.
Armenian Ani-Matilda Serebrakian, with bib 83, stormed out of the
gate, unafraid of what befell the other skiers before her. Going down
the hill, heading toward the mid-point, she was flawless and looked
like she would qualify for a second run. (Like the men, only the top
30 riders have a second run and a chance to medal.) With her mask,
a coat of snow across, she made her turns, the crowd cheering her on,
and she didn’t appear to have anything stopping her from finishing.
However, with her speed, she came up to a far right turn, and all of
sudden, pulled up, holding her right hand. What happened? She had come
so close to the sty that it had whacked her hand with enormous force,
knocking her out of the race. No injury report was filed from the AOC,
but one AOC official said, "She is fine."
Due to all of the DNF, the second runs were postponed until 9:30 a.m.,
Feb. 25.
This means that both Armenian athletes DNF in their respective alpine
events and only have the slalom left.
Every day is becoming a learning experience for this young team and
when the time comes for the slalom, both Nersisyan and Serebrakian
will know the course better and how to handle the conditions, speed,
turns, and their ski positioning.
The men’s slalom is scheduled to run at 10 a.m., PST time, on Feb. 27.
The women’s slalom is at 10 a.m., PST time, Feb. 26.