Freestyle-Italians grab gold and silver in men's ski cross
LIVIGNO, Italy, Feb 21 : Italy's Simone Deromedis took gold in men's ski cross, sliding across the finish line just ahead of teammate Federico Tomasoni, to the delight of a home crowd that cheered through heavy snow at the Milano Cortina Games on Saturday.
Alex Fiva of Switzerland, who won silver four years ago, took bronze this time in the Alpine town of Livigno.
The Italian-heavy audience erupted into jubilation as Deromedis and Tomasoni sprinted at the race's end to claim the top two spots on the Olympic podium. The two men collapsed on their backs to catch their breath in the snow.
At the medal ceremony, Deromedis jumped onto the podium, smiled widely and hugged his teammate. Tomasoni kissed his medal and looked to the sky as spectators waved red, white and green Italian flags. The skiers and crowd then sang the national anthem.
"Madness," Deromedis said when asked to describe his achievement.
He said he had a hard time defining his emotions.
"I think it takes some more time. For now, I feel like I just won a race, but I don't know," he said as the gold medal hung around his neck.
Ski cross features high-speed races between four riders who slide down a 1.5 km course filled with bumps, jumps and turns. The sport is known for being unpredictable with competitors often knocking into each other and crashing.
The steady snow limited visibility and slowed down skiers on the winding race course. Fiva said the conditions forced him to press down harder on his skis.
"I think it was my toughest race ever. My legs were burning after the first round. I feel my age now even more," the 40-year-old said.
Defending gold medallist Ryan Regez of Switzerland was disqualified in the semi-finals when judges ruled he interfered with Japan's Satoshi Furuno.
Daniela Maier of Germany claimed the gold medal in the women's ski cross on Friday.
