CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Germany lamented a slide down the Olympic medals table from four years ago and an unwanted status at the Milano Cortina Games on Saturday as the team with the most fourth-placed finishes.
From ending Beijing 2022 as the second most successful nation, Team Deutschland headed into the closing weekend fifth overall.
German athletes have finished fourth 12 times and the hope of finishing third overall in the table was already gone when Chef de Mission Olaf Tabor spoke to reporters in Cortina d'Ampezzo.
He summed up the two weeks by admitting to "joy, pride and a little bit of desolation.
"Proud because I can live very well with the achievements shown here by Team Germany," he said, pointing out that 60% of the squad were Olympic first-timers.
"I also said that desolation is part of my mood ... I am pained by the very many fourth places that we have achieved. World class results but unfortunately exactly one place behind what is then also awarded as a medal.
"We are actually the nation with the most fourth places. And that is painful."
Of the 22 medals won by Saturday, six were gold -- behind the Netherlands on eight. Hosts Italy were in third place on nine golds and with 27 medals. Germany won 27 medals in Beijing, of which 12 were gold.
Tabor said the glut of fourth places would be analysed after the Games, with each likely telling a different story and offering an individual answer.
Some were a matter of bad luck, but there had also been small mistakes and bigger collapses. Tabor said the competition was also fiercer with the top five or six countries very close together and fine margins deciding medals.
"Just like in the Summer, where we already had it as a topic, we will have to find out for the Winter: Where we can attack, what the measures are," he added.
"And that will be the task of the top associations.
"The question of what needs to be improved is always an ongoing topic, which we will discuss with the associations with a little rest and distance in the next few weeks."
Germany's medals so far have been heavily weighted towards the sliding sports, with 15 of the 22 and four of the golds coming from luge, bobsleigh and skeleton.
Tabor said that was not so surprising, with the Nordic countries taking most of theirs on snow while the Dutch did so in speed skating.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin; Editing by Ken Ferris)
