Sestriere, Italy – Thirteen months ago, Antoine Deneriaz’s Olympic dream seemingly shattered when he crashed on a jump during a downhill training run and tore ligaments in his left knee.
On Sunday, the Frenchman lived a dream, winning the Olympic downhill by a staggering .72 of a second.
“My race was incredible,” Deneriaz said. “When I was in the start I said to myself, ‘Do it, do it, I have to attack.’ When I arrived at the finish line and saw the time I thought it was incredible.”
Deneriaz was injured in January 2005 when he landed a jump awkwardly at Chamonix, France, not far from his hometown.
“It was 13 long months,” Deneriaz said. “When I was carried off the mountain by the helicopter, I tried not to be too dramatic. I thought, ‘The Olympics are only every four years, and I’m going to make it.’ The first month of rehabilitation was very hard. I was always thinking, ‘OK, the Games, the Games, the Games are coming.”‘
Austria’s Michael Walchhofer, a favorite in the race, seemed to have the race won until Deneriaz took the gold medal from him at the last possible instant. Deneriaz started 30th and was the last racer who could have beaten the Austrian.
“I was disappointed at first, but then I understood that Deneriaz had a dream run,” said Walchhofer, who has all but wrapped up the World Cup downhill title this season. “After two minutes I was very happy. This was an extremely difficult race and I had to cope with tremendous pressure.”
Norway’s Kjetil Andre Aamodt, who has won more Olympic medals (seven) than any alpine racer, seemed to have the bronze medal until Deneriaz upset the podium.
“I was surprised to get fourth because I almost fell on the first jump,” Aamodt said. “I hurt my knee and had pain all the way down.”
