Running one hand through her hair while wiping tears away with the other, Lara Gut-Behrami released a sigh of relief when she finally put that elusive Olympic gold medal around her neck, according to AP.
Then the freshly crowned super-G champion at the Beijing Games cocked her head back, squinted her eyes as the bright sun reflected off the snow onto her red-and-white Swiss team warmup suit and unleashed a wide smile toward the sky.
Her transformation complete from teenage prodigy to Olympic champion for the first time at age 30, Gut-Behrami could finally reflect on her long and winding career: from her World Cup debut at the age of 16 to her first World Cup victory at 17, an overall World Cup title at 24 and, finally, golds — first, two titles at last season’s world championships at Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, and now this.
Two-time Olympic Alpine gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin finished a distant ninth, 0.79 seconds behind Gut-Behrami. At least the American finished this time, after skiing out in both her previous races in Beijing.
Source: Azerbaijan State News Agency