Blank Games for men’s skiers
The Swiss men's alpine skiing team have completed their Winter Olympic programme, without a single medal to show for their efforts.
As expected, Saturday’s slalom saw the Swiss men finish empty-handed once again, although Urs Imboden came close to causing an upset after grabbing a creditable sixth place.
Imboden came in with a combined time just 16 hundredths of a second slower than shock bronze medallist Alain Baxter of Britain, whose performance secured Britain its first ever Olympic medal in the sport.
France celebrated a surprise one-two with Jean-Pierre Vidal and Sebastien Amiez taking the gold and silver respectively.
Saturday’s race, like the women’s slalom, saw several top skiers crashing out on an extremely challenging course.
Switzerland’s failure to win a single medal in the men’s alpine skiing for the first time since 1964 stands in stark contrast to the achievements of the overall Swiss squad, who have so far won an impressive 11 medals in Salt Lake, including three golds.
Bartsch confirms departure
The disappointment in the Swiss camp has already led to one high profile casualty, with head coach Dieter Bartsch announcing his immediate resignation.
Having originally threatened on Friday to resign if the Swiss men failed to win a last-gasp medal in the slalom, Bartsch confirmed his decision to Swiss television just moments after Saturday’s race.
Switzerland’s women managed to improve only slightly on the men’s record in Salt Lake with Sonja Nef clinching the bronze medal in Friday’s giant slalom.
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