MILAN (AP) — Eileen Gu is readying to defend her big air ski freestyle title and a Norwegian contender's emotional reaction overshadowed the last men's Alpine ski event of the Milan Cortina Olympics.
Also on Day 10 of the Winter Games, the United States won its women's hockey semifinal game. Canada plays next, which could set up yet another gold-medal decider between the old rivals.
The men's slalom race had a finish like no other.
Norway’s Atle Lie McGrath was leading the race and skiing last on the second run but straddled a gate and was out. He stopped, threw his ski poles over a fence and then started walking through deep snow to the forest for some time alone.
The dramatic finish overshadowed Loic Meillard of Switzerland winning gold, and an earlier fall for giant slalom winner and South American history maker Lucas Pinheiro Braathen.
It's been an especially tough Olympics for McGrath, whose grandfather died on the day of the opening ceremony. McGrath was racing with an armband as a tribute.
The freestyle star who skis for China is going for her second medal of these Olympics as she aims to win the big air event for the second Games in a row.
Gu was second in qualifying and will be up against Mathilde Gremaud, who beat her to the gold medal in slopestyle. Gu is also competing in the halfpipe later in the Milan Cortina Games.
The United States is into the women's gold medal game after routing Sweden 5-0 as goaltender Aerin Frankel preserved a shutout streak which now stands at 331 minutes.
The U.S. team is unbeaten and has allowed just one goal all tournament as it seeks a first gold medal since 2018.
The defending Olympic champion Canadians play Switzerland in the day’s other semifinal game.
Xandra Velzeboer won her second gold medal of the Olympics in the women's 1,000-meter short track speedskating to match her Dutch teammate Jens van ’t Wout with two gold medals for the games.
Italy's Arianna Fontana was chasing what would have been her 14th career Olympic medal but placed fourth.
The figure skating pairs event heads for its decider in the free skate, with Germany's Minerva Hase and Nikita Volodin leading after the short program. Medals are also on offer in women's monobob and the men's super team ski jumping.
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
United States' Hilary Knight, right, challenges for the puck with Sweden's Maja Nylen Persson during a semifinal match of women's ice hockey between the United States and Sweden at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
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)
China's Eileen Gu waits for her scores as she competes in the women's freestyle skiing big air qualifications at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
BORMIO, Italy (AP) — Atle Lie McGrath’s gold-medal hopes in the Olympic slalom slipped away. His ski poles were then thrown away. And then he simply stumbled away through the snow toward the woods.
It was all part of an epic Olympic meltdown that turned Monday's race into high-tragic theater.
“I thought that I would get some peace and quiet, which I didn’t,” the Norwegian ski racer said of his retreat from the course after losing out on a medal. “Because photographers and police found me out in the woods. But I just needed some time for myself.”
McGrath, who was born in Vermont but grew up in Norway, entered the final run of the final men’s race at the Milan Cortina Games with a big lead in his best event. But after straddling a gate, McGrath lost a medal and then control of his emotions in a race won by Loic Meillard of Switzerland.
The 25-year-old McGrath tossed each pole over the safety netting lining the Stelvio course. He then climbed the fencing on the other side of the course and made his way through the snow to the edge of the wilderness, where he laid on his back.
McGrath later arrived in the finish area and walked away without talking. More than two hours later, he met the media at a nearby Bormio hotel.
“I’m normally a guy that’s very good when it comes to perspective on things,” he said. “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. I’ve lost someone I love so much and that makes it really hard.”
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,” said teammate Timon Haugan, who finished fourth in Monday's race. “He’s been really sad. He started to do better and today he’s going through ... we need to really back him up today.”
McGrath was close to a medal, too. Very close. His mistake happened right in front of a Swiss coach standing on the course, whose celebration for Meillard’s now-guaranteed gold medal caused the team to later apologize to the Norwegians.
“I gave myself the absolute best opportunity you could today,” McGrath said. “I skied so great, and I still couldn’t get it done. So that’s what really hurts.”
Haugan felt for him.
“It’s just heartbreaking,” he said. “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.”
The emotional outburst?
“That's allowed,” Kristoffersen said. “This is sports. What are sports without the emotions?”
Meillard echoed that thought. It's a fickle discipline, where a racer weaves through a tight course set.
“The beauty of slalom is that when it works out it’s beautiful," Meillard said. "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.”
For McGrath, there won't be anymore alone time.
“I spent my time in the woods,” McGrath said with a laugh. "So now I’m going to spend time with the people I love and that’s all I need.
“I think I need quite a bit of time to process this and it’s going to be extremely tough. We’ll see how it goes, but at least I’m surrounded by great people who love me and who I love. I’m at least happy that they’ll be here.”
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)
