BORMIO, Italy, Feb 11 (Reuters) - France’s Nils Allegre cut a visibly frustrated figure on Wednesday after missing an Olympic medal in the super‑G by three hundredths of a second, a margin so small he struggled to accept it.
Allegre, the strongest speed specialist in the French team, has collected a string of fourth places in World Cup downhill and super-G events recently, all by a few hundredths of a second.
First out of the start hut and with no reference time to guide him, the 32-year-old delivered one of the finest runs of his career, but it was still not enough to secure a medal. Switzerland's Franjo von Allmen clinched gold, his third of the Games, with American Ryan Cochran-Siegle taking silver and World Cup leader Marco Odermatt claiming bronze.
“I’m furious, that’s for sure. It’s hard, very hard,” Allegre said. “I’m having a very good Olympics, I’m skiing the best of my life, my level of form has never been this high. I gave everything with bib number one and without any reference, and I’m three hundredths off — it’s extremely tough."
NEAR MISSES
For Allegre, missing out on the podium narrowly is not a new experience. He finished fourth in this season's downhill and super-G World Cup races in Val Gardena, and in the Val Gardena downhill last season.
“I’m gutted because my career has often been like this so far: other guys always seem to have the hundredths on their side, and I never do,” he said. “Today, I feel a mix of a lot of pride for my whole week and a lot of disappointment. I’m proud of the way I skied, but there’s no reward at the end. Three hundredths in a lifetime is nothing — and today it would have made all the difference."
(Reporting by Lisa Jucca in Bormio, additional reporting by Julien Pretot in Cortina d'Ampezzo, editing by Ed Osmond)
