Dominique Gisin of Switzerland and Tina Maze of Slovenia jointly won the Ladies Downhill at Sochi this morning, both recording times of 1:41.6. No silver medal will be awarded with another Swiss racer, Lara Gut, taking bronze. A tie for first place is unusual but not unprecedented, being last recorded in the 1992 Albertville Games for the women, and 1998 Nagano Olympics for the men. Chemmy Alcott finishing 19th, 1.86 seconds off the pace.
"After what I've been through, it's amazing justice. I'm swelling with pride and I'm on a buzz. When I made the commitment to come here it was about personal goals. I never put any statistics on it, if I had then top 20 would have been massively over superseding what I expected. I've done this against all odds and I'm very proud. I know it sounds crazy to some people, but 19th is a gold for me. Anyone who has followed what I've been through will understand that," said Chemmy
"Chemmy is in her final Winter Olympics. One of only two Brits in the alpine skiing. She is happy to have raced in this Olympics and to currently be in the top 20. She is just happy to have got down. I'm really proud of her, after all her injuries," Emma Carrick-Anderson told the BBC.
Chemmy, who has raised all the money she needed to cover training and competition herself since British funding for downhill racers was withdrawn, has been training with the Norwegian squad, placed 11th in the Downhill at the Turin Olympic downhill in 2006, then 11th in the Super Combined and 13th in the Downhill at Whistler in the 2010 Vancouver Games.