BORMIO, Italy (AP) — Norway’s Atle Lie McGrath saw his gold-medal hopes slip away in the Olympic slalom and decided to send his ski poles sailing along with them.
After tossing each pole over the netting, he then climbed the fencing on the side of the Stelvio course to begin his long walk toward the wilderness. It was part of an Olympic meltdown that turned the men’s slalom into high-tragic theater Monday.
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Norway's Atle Lie McGrath walks off the course after skiing out during an alpine ski, men's slalom race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Norway's Atle Lie McGrath arrives at the finish area of an alpine ski, men's slalom race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Norway's Atle Lie McGrath walks off the course after skiing out during an alpine ski, men's slalom race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Norway's Atle Lie McGrath walks off the course after skiing out during an alpine ski, men's slalom race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/John Locher)
As the first-run leader, McGrath was the last to go among the top-30 racers. He had a medal within his sights — until he straddled a gate and was out. He lost a medal and then control of his emotions in a race won by Loic Meillard of Switzerland.
Once McGrath reached the forest, he sat down in the snow and then fell back, breathing heavily. A medical person came over to check on him.
McGrath later arrived in the finish area and walked away without talking.
“It’s just heartbreaking,” said his teammate, Timon Haugan, who finished fourth. “He's doing everything perfect. He did a very good first run, put himself in a position to win the Olympic gold. He does everything right and then that happens in 15 seconds."
Bronze medalist Henrik Kristoffersen, McGrath's Norwegian teammate, knows the feeling. Kristoffersen was leading the slalom at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games only to ski out in the second run.
“In the end, it’s another ski race. In the end, it’s not going to make or break Atle's career,” Kristoffersen said. "He is a great skier. If he keeps going like he’s going, he will have great success for the future. This is just our sport.
“That’s how it goes sometimes. I’ve been in this exact same position, and done the same thing (skied out). And yes, it hurts. But it is what it is.”
Kristoffersen understands McGrath's outburst, too.
“That's allowed,” he said. “This is sports. What are sports without the emotions?”
Meillard felt the same way.
“I’ve been in his place other times — slalom is so tough,” Meillard said. “You can be the best in the start and straddle the first gate. The beauty of slalom is that when it works out it’s beautiful. I was definitely sorry for him, but at the end, all the times he won when I skied out — that’s part of the game.”
McGrath has been racing with a heavy heart, with his grandfather dying the day of the opening ceremony. He wore an armband as a tribute.
“What he's gone through these last 10, 12 days, it's been really tough,” Haugan said. “He's been really sad. He started to do better and today he's going through ... we need to really back him up today.”
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Norway's Atle Lie McGrath walks off the course after skiing out during an alpine ski, men's slalom race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Norway's Atle Lie McGrath arrives at the finish area of an alpine ski, men's slalom race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Norway's Atle Lie McGrath walks off the course after skiing out during an alpine ski, men's slalom race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Norway's Atle Lie McGrath walks off the course after skiing out during an alpine ski, men's slalom race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/John Locher)
ROJ CAMP, Syria (AP) — Syrian authorities turned back a group of Australian women and children on Monday after they left a camp in Syria housing people with alleged ties to Islamic State militants in an attempt to head back to their home country.
It was not clear if or when they would be able to complete their journey.
The 34 women and children from 11 families were supposed to make their way from Roj camp to the Syrian capital, Damascus, and then fly to Australia. Relatives of the returnees had been coordinating with Syrian authorities and had traveled from Australia to accompany them, camp officials said.
Rashid Omar, an administrator at the camp, said about an hour after departing the remote camp near the border with Iraq, the families were contacted by officials in Damascus who told them that the procedures for their departure were not complete and that they would not be able to travel. The families then returned to the camp.
Hakmiyeh Ibrahim, the camp's director, said the planned repatriations were organized by family members of the returnees rather than directly by Australian authorities.
Australian officials could not be immediately reached for comment.
Roj camp houses about 2,200 people from around 50 nationalities, mostly women and children, who have supposed links to the extremist group. Most in the camp are not technically prisoners and have not been accused of a crime, but they have, in effect, been detained in the heavily guarded camp, controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
The most well-known resident of the Roj camp, Shamima Begum, was 15 when she and two other girls fled from London in 2015 to marry IS fighters in Syria. Begum married a Dutch man fighting for IS and had three children, who all died. She recently lost an appeal against the British government’s decision to revoke her U.K. citizenship.
The fate of the Roj camp and the similar but larger al-Hol camp has been a matter of debate for years. Human rights groups have cited poor living conditions and pervasive violence in the camps, but many countries have been reluctant to take back their citizens who are detained there.
Monday’s repatriation, if completed, would have been the first this year. Ibrahim, the camp director, said 16 families were repatriated last year, including German, British and French nationals. In 2022, three Australian families were repatriated.
Government forces took control of al-Hol camp last month amid fighting with the SDF that led to state forces seizing most of the territory in northeast Syria previously controlled by the Kurdish forces.
The U.N. refugee agency said Sunday that a large number of residents of al-Hol camp have left and that the Syrian government plans to relocate those who remain.
Separately, thousands of accused IS militants who were held in detention centers in northeastern Syria have been transferred to Iraq by the U.S. military to stand trial there.
Family members of suspected Islamic State militants who are Australian nationals board a van heading to the airport in Damascus during the first repatriation operation of the year, at Roj Camp in eastern Syria, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. Thirty-four Australian citizens from 11 families departed the camp. (AP Photo/Baderkhan Ahmad)
Family members of suspected Islamic State militants who are Australian nationals walk toward a van bound for the airport in Damascus during the first repatriation operation of the year at Roj Camp in eastern Syria, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. Thirty-four Australian citizens from 11 families departed the camp. (AP Photo/Baderkhan Ahmad)
Female members of the Syrian Democratic Forces secure the area as vans carrying family members of suspected Islamic State militants who are Australian nationals head to the airport in Damascus during the first repatriation operation of the year at Roj Camp in eastern Syria, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. Thirty-four Australian citizens from 11 families departed the camp. (AP Photo/Baderkhan Ahmad)
Family members of suspected Islamic State militants who are Australian nationals sit in a van heading to the airport in Damascus during the first repatriation operation of the year, at Roj Camp in eastern Syria, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. Thirty-four Australian citizens from 11 families departed the camp. (AP Photo/Baderkhan Ahmad)
Family members of suspected Islamic State militants who are Australian nationals board a van heading to the airport in Damascus during the first repatriation operation of the year, at Roj Camp in eastern Syria, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. Thirty-four Australian citizens from 11 families departed the camp. (AP Photo/Baderkhan Ahmad)
Family members of suspected Islamic State militants who are Australian nationals board a van heading to the airport in Damascus during the first repatriation operation of the year, at Roj Camp in eastern Syria, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. Thirty-four Australian citizens from 11 families departed the camp. (AP Photo/Baderkhan Ahmad)
