On Wednesday at 10 a.m.,
Conor Lyne stood in the start gate atop the Rosa Khutor Alpine Resort in Sochi,
Russia, with 108 other giant slalom racers. Wearing bib number 95 over
Ireland’s green, white and orange speed suit, Lyne pushed out of the start gate
two hours after the first racer.
Halfway through his run, the
skier from North Logan slid off course on the steep ski pitch and did not
finish the race. To qualify for the second run at 2:30 p.m., racers had to
finish their first run. Lyne was one of 26 racers who did not qualify for a
second run.
Park City native Ted Ligety
finished with the fastest combined time to win the United States’ first giant
slalom Olympic gold medal.
“I’m disappointed a little
bit,” Lyne said. “I made it to the start, that was the goal all along, and now
I can say that I’m an Olympian. I gave my best, but that’s ski racing.”
After failing to finish the
giant slalom, Lyne is putting all of his efforts into Saturday’s race.
“I prefer giant slalom, but
I think I’m better at slalom, so I’m hopeful as I focus and train for
Saturday,” Lyne said.
Bib numbers and start times
for the slalom race will be posted Friday afternoon.
The University of Utah
engineering student put school on hold for the past two years as he improved
his giant slalom and slalom skiing. Lyne competed throughout New Zealand, South
America and Europe in preparation for the Winter Games.
Although Lyne was born in
England and moved to North Logan when he was four, both of his parents are
Irish citizens — giving him the opportunity to compete for Ireland at the
international level. Lyne learned to ski at Beaver Mountain and has lived in
Utah most of his life, but the 20 year old has always considered himself Irish.
Ignacio Birkner, Beaver’s
current ski team coach, was Lyne’s coach for seven years and saw potential in
his racing ability early on. At the age of 14, under the coaching of Birkner,
Lyne declared and was accepted to represent Ireland as he started competing at
a higher level.
“The biggest quality Conor
has is his dedication,” Birkner said. “It’s been rewarding to watch him grow
from a kid to an adult through ski racing.”
Morgan Klinkowski, Justin Anderson, Sam Emmett, Emily
Duke, Madison Eves and Alex Bennett contributed to this report.
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