WHISTLER, British Columbia — American Julia Mancuso was third fastest in Thursday’s second run of the women’s giant slalom, but failed to overcome a frustrating performance in the first run a day earlier and finished eighth.
“It just wasn’t enough,” said Mancuso, who finishes these Olympics with two silver medals.
Viktoria Rebensburg won the race, giving Germany a winner in it for the first time since 1956. Rebensburg was highly unlikely to be the drought-buster, as she’d never won a major event.
“I just won a gold medal at an Olympic event,” said the 20-year-old German, who had never won a senior-level race before and whose best previous result was second in a World Cup giant slalom. “It’s the highest thing I could ever achieve. Crazy!”
Afterward, Mancuso tried to defuse a misunderstanding with teammate Lindsey Vonn, calling the two-time World Cup overall champion “the greatest female American skier we’ve had.”
