The China Mail - Grief-stricken McGrath left in shock at Olympic slalom failure

McGrath was informed on the night of the opening ceremony of these Milan-Cortina Games that his grandfather had died after a battle with dementia, at the age of 83.

The US-born Norwegian had described his grandfather, an accomplished cross-country skier in his prime, as a key motivator in his career.

An emotional McGrath looked set to pay Svein the perfect tribute after blasting to the fastest first leg of the slalom race.

But disaster struck on the second run, McGrath clattering into a gate with such power that it forced him off kilter and out of the race, won by Switzerland's Loic Meillard.

A devasted McGrath immediately hurled both his poles over the safety netting on the Stelvio course before skiing off to the other side of the track into a small wooded area, where he took his skis off and lay back on the snow, hands to his face in despair.

"It was a mix of shock and just everything in between. It's like a surreal feeling. I haven't really experienced anything like it before," the 25-year-old told reporters.

"I'm normally a guy that's very good when it comes to perspective on things, and if I don't ski well in a race, I can at least tell myself that I'm healthy and my family's healthy, and the people I love are here. So that's nice, but that's not been the case."

McGrath, born in the United States to American father Felix and Norwegian mother Selma Lie before moving to Norway as a toddler, explained that the build-up to the race had been one of the "toughest moments" of his life.

"I've lost someone I love so much, and that makes it really hard," he said.

"It's the worst moment of my career, and it's been one of the toughest moments of my life with everything that's been going on.

"I was hoping I was going to be able to crown off this tough period with something good today."

- Peace and quiet -

McGrath, happy to have his mother, brother and girlfriend at his side in Bormio, said of his departure into the woods that he "just needed to get away from everything".

"I thought that I would get some peace and quiet, which I didn't, because photographers and police found me out in the woods, but I just needed some time for myself.

"It's hard to think that the next time I'll be able to ski the Olympics, I will be 29 years old, and not 25.

"I gave myself the absolute best opportunity you could today, and I skied so great, and I still couldn't get it done. So that that's what really hurts."

The fine margins between success and failure were not missed on McGrath, who had come into the slalom as one of the pre-race favourites.

"I don't know any other sports where you can go from having such an advantageous position to losing it within pretty much half a second," he said.

"It's what makes alpine skiing so fun to watch, probably, and so cool when you get it done.

"With everything that's been going on, I've really, really struggled to handle myself these past two weeks, and I was so proud of my first run today, considering everything.

"Then I don't get anything out of it."

His grandfather's death, he added, had not affected his focus aside from honing his "will to ski fast".

"I honestly think that he was the only reason why I was able to lead the first run today and also lead by so much."

Asked whether he'd been seeking out any more alone time in the woods, McGrath replied: "No, I've spent my time in the woods, so now I'm going to spend time with the people I love."

K.Leung--ThChM