She wasn’t close to challenging for a medal, but alpine skier Lara Markthaler closed out South Africa’s campaign in style on Wednesday at the Winter Olympic Games in Italy.
With five individuals competing at the multi-sport spectacle, the nation was represented by its largest squad in the history of the Games, but most struggled to put up a fight.
Markthaler was impressive, however, as the 19-year-old athlete carried the SA flag in two events at the multi-sport showpiece.
Last weekend the teenager, who is based in Germany, took 47th place out of 75 competitors in the women’s giant slalom competition.
And on Wednesday she did even better, taking 46th spot in her first run and 40th in her second attempt to finish 39th overall in a field of 95 in the slalom contest.
Other results
The rest of the SA team had a tougher time of it against the world’s best at the quadrennial Games.
The other alpine skier in the squad, 17-year-old Thomas Weir, finished 63rd out of 81 competitors in the men’s giant slalom, and he did not finish his first run in the slalom event.
Freestyle skier Malica Malherbe ended 25th of 29 competitors in her first run in the women’s moguls, and after finishing 17th out of 19 athletes in her second run she did not progress to the finals.
In the women’s dual moguls, Malherbe did not complete her first-round contest against Australia’s Jakara Anthony (who went on to earn the gold medal) and she did not progress to the next round.
Competing in the skeleton bobsleigh, Nicole Burger was 25th (and last) in each of her first three runs, and though she took 24th position in her fourth run, she settled for 25th overall.
And in cross-country skiing, Matthew Smith was 108th in the men’s 10km freestyle, completing the race more than nine minutes behind Norwegian superstar Johannes Klaebo.
The 25th Winter Olympic Games, held in Milan and Cortina, will conclude with the closing ceremony to be held on Sunday.
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