Marie-Michele Gagnon isn’t sure where the time went in her final run of the women’s downhill at the Beijing Olympics.
The native of Lac-Etchemin, Que., tied with Austria’s Mirjam Puchner for eighth with a time of one minute 33.45 seconds on Tuesday.
Gagnon had spoken in the past about how performance is more important than results, but she said further analysis would be needed to figure out why she missed the podium.
“I’m happy and I’m proud of my performance, but I’m confused why I didn’t get a medal today,” said Gagnon. “There’s a few features that could be played differently and we had a little bit of wind, we had the sun come in and out with the clouds.”
Switzerland’s Corinne Suter won gold in 1:31.87, ahead of a pair of Italian skiers. Sofia Goggia finish in 1:32.03 for silver and Nadia Delago took bronze with a time of 1:32.44.
“I never thought about the place (medal) today, I just wanted to ski as fast I could,” said Suter, who added that she consulted with her countryman Beat Feuz, who won the men’s downhill at the Beijing Games on Feb. 7.
“After the analysis yesterday I had a plan in my mind and I just wanted to try my best.”
Gagnon tied with Austria’s Mirjam Puchner for eighth with a time of one minute 33.45 seconds on Tuesday.The Associated Press
After a few quick viewings of her run versus Suter’s, Gagnon felt they were very similar and wasn’t sure where she slowed down compared to the Swiss skier.
“We’re just a little bit confused as to where that time went,” said Gagnon. “It’s very, very similar, like the line and the attack. Normally when you lose one point, it’s pretty evident where you lose it. You can see the difference in attack or line and things like that.
“There was obviously, a few things different but not like, major things so we’ll have to analyze more.”
Roni Remme of Collingwood, Ont., placed 24th in 1:35.36.
Although the two Canadians are both eligible to compete in the women’s Alpine combined later in the week, they have elected to end their time at the Beijing Olympics.
Gagnon said she toyed with the idea but she doesn’t often ski slalom and would be at a disadvantage in the event that combines that discipline with the downhill.
“My chances of medals would be more like a draw of luck,” said Gagnon. “I can be good at slalom, it’s just that we didn’t prep for this, it was not something we’ve really prepared for.”
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Gagnon has had most of her success in downhill competitions, with top-10 finishes in the discipline over the past year on the World Cup circuit.
She was seventh and ninth in the discipline in Val di Fassa, Italy on Feb. 27 and 28. Then ninth in Lake Louise, Alta., on Dec. 4, fifth in Zauchensee, Austria, on Jan. 15, and ninth in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany on Jan. 29.
The 32-year-old Gagnon is going directly from the Olympics – possibly her last Winter Games – to a World Cup event in Crans-Montana, Switzerland from Feb. 24-27.
“I don’t have the pleasure of going home like all the Olympians here,” said Gagnon. “There would be time to go home but it makes no sense because we go around the world and with the time change and everything it’s better to just go pick it up in Europe.”
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