The Swiss team holds its first medal at the Paralympic Games in Beijing thanks to Théo Gmür! The 25-year-old Valaisan, triple gold medalist 4 years ago in PyeongChang, won bronze during the downhill. The Neuchâtelois Robin Cuche, for his part, finished in 11th place in a race dominated by the French Arthur Bauchet.
Defending champion, Théo Gmür did not crack under the pressure and was able to meet the expectations that weighed on his shoulders. The Haute-Nendaz skier, injured in his left knee in December, however had to wait for Jingyi Liang to pass before he might let out a big sigh of relief. The Chinese, who started with bib number 40, missed the bronze by 19 hundredths.
“I gave everything from start to finish. I made some big mistakes… The lines weren’t very good, which is why I conceded more than a second on the first two. The relief is huge.” explained Gmür following the race.
Théo Gmür is an example of resilience and he proved it once once more on “The Rock” track in Yanqing, where Beat Feuz won the Olympic downhill a month ago. “A lot of things have happened this season. There was my left knee injury in December… I didn’t know if I was going to be able to continue my season…” explained the Valaisan before the start of the Paralympic Games.
Fourth Paralympic Medal
“If you had told me in December that I would win a medal at the Paralympic Games in Beijing, 3 months following my injury, I would never have believed it… We agree, it’s not the but there are still a few races left… With the experience of the track and the feeling, I will be able to ski faster”, continued the 25-year-old Valaisan, already winner in mid-January of 2 bronze medals (giant and super-G) at the Lillehammer Worlds. Gmür has thus added a 4th Paralympic medal to his list following winning gold in downhill, super-G and giant 4 years ago in PyeongChang.
Freed from an enormous weight, Gmür can now look forward to the rest of these Paralympics with confidence. The rest is already Sunday with the super-G (from 03:00 on RTSsport.ch). Robin Cuche will also be there. The Neuchâtelois, who is playing his 3rd Paralympic Games, finished 11th in the downhill. “I left too wide in the banana (following regarding fifty seconds of racing) which made me lose a lot of time on the flat part… I might have skied better”, noted Cuche. With a medal in its pocket, Swiss Paralympic has already achieved its goal in Beijing.
Miguel Bao
