The depth of defeat was on heartbreaking display at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics Monday, Feb. 16.
Atle Lie McGrath, a ski racer who was born in Vermont and competes for Norway, had a lead of 0.59 seconds in the men’s slalom before he began his second and final run in the Alpine skiing event.
Moments later, he missed a gate on the course, leading to disqualification and something almost as stunning.
McGrath, 25, threw his ski poles. He clomped in his ski boots to the side of the run and fell back onto the snow. Then he rose to his feet and started marching across the snow, destination unknown at Stelvio Ski Centre in Bormio.
It turns out McGrath already had suffered a painful loss.
His grandfather died on the night of the Opening Ceremony after suffering from dementia.
“The load up I’ve had to this championship and losing my grandpa and everything, like, I never even thought I’d be at the start,’’ he said after finishing fifth in the giant slalom Feb. 14. “This is, especially the second run today, is some of the best skiing I’ve ever done considering how I’ve felt. … It’s been one of the absolute toughest weeks of my life. And then it’s really hard to all of the sudden, you know, ah, ‘I’m going to go ski between some plastic gates down the mountain and make it seem important when I lost someone I love very much.’ It’s been very hard to balance it, but I’m so proud of how I did it today.’’
McGrath’s father Felix skied for the United States in the 1980s, though McGrath opted to represent Norway (his mother is Norwegian). He said on Feb. 14: ‘Even though I’m half American, for me, I love being a Norwegian. No other place I’d ever want to be.’
Two days later, there he was, in position to win an Olympic medal – quite possibly a gold medal – while perhaps reflecting on the loss of his grandfather.
Then came the sudden disqualification and a very long walk, away from the medal podium.