French skier Mathieu Faivre won Sunday the bronze of the giant of the Beijing Olympics, won by the Swiss ultra-favorite Marco Odermatt. The Niçois brings France its eighth medal in particularly trying snow conditions.
Third fastest in the first heat, the reigning world champion in the specialty finished 1 sec 34 behind the leader of the big globe race, while the Slovenian Zan Kranjec (19/100th from Odermatt) took a second heat dazzling to snatch money. Favrot and Pinturault, finish them in the same time, in fifth place.
Last February, Mathieu Faivre won two gold medals at the world championships (parallel and giant). After the race, he spoke to France TV: “It was really a long day. There was always this little stress, this little ball in the stomach. It was what was needed and today it pays off. I don’t watch at all what is done before or how the race passes. I just felt in the struggle, in the battle. The conditions were daunting today, and with experience, I just told myself that I had to go all the way.”