Sara Hector shared the silver medal with Norwegian Thea Louise Stjernesund. The riders reached the finish line in exactly the same time – in both races. Something that the Alpine world could not remember has happened before. At least not in a championship context.
– It must be one in a million, said Sara Hector and was happy for her Norwegian friend.
– We have been together for many years and we speak the same language. She is a lovely girl, said Hector, and continued:
– It was extremely tight behind me, but I had the hundredths on my side. That’s the way it is, if you’re unlucky sometimes you’re lucky other times, she said and explained how proud she was of herself and of having won a medal for the second Olympics in a row.
The reigning champion could not threaten Italian home idol Federica Brignone, who won by a margin of 62 hundredths.
– She really deserved it considering the challenges she has had, said Sara Hector.
Hector shared the silver with Norwegian Thea Louise Stjernesund.
There was thus shared Nordic joy in the goal net.
Hector did a strong second run and came in at the same time as leading Stjernesund.
– I am very happy that I get to share it with “dear Sara”, she continued.
– I have never been so even with anyone in my entire life, said Sara Hector when it was her turn to be interviewed by SVT.
Sara Hector said that during the second run she thought it was over.
– I ended up in a bad flow and didn’t have a good feeling, so I became a bit negative. But in the end it was enough for a silver, and that after two races where I didn’t really feel “yes”, said Sara Hector.
– So in the end – think what level.
The Italian Sofia Goggia finished 25 hundredths behind the Nordic duo and a Swedish medal was secured.
The German Lena Dürr could not threaten the leaders either.
After winning the genre rope in the giant slalom in Spindleruv Mlyn, her first World Cup win of the season, expectations were high and Hector was one of the favorites in the competition.
Hector was in joint fourth place after the first run, 74 hundredths behind Federica Brignone.
The reigning champion went out with starting number 2, but had to wait a bit to set off because there was a problem with the starting gate before the first rider.
Once Hector got going, she didn’t deliver a flawless ride. She came far down in several turns, several meters outside the ideal line, and also flew too far in the jump before the finish.
The time was 1.03.97, exactly the same as Stjernesund.
But Hector was not alone if misses. Directly after her, Mikaela Shiffrin drove, but the American slalom queen was unable to punish the time of previous skiers.
Rider after rider in the first group failed to beat Hector’s and Stjernesund’s time. It was only when the Albanian Lara Colturi reached the finish line that the green light flashed, but it turned out that she too recorded 1.03.97. Thus, three riders were in the lead at the same time.
It took starting number 14 before the best time of the day came. Italy’s Federica Brignone, who came back from a long-term injury to win Olympic gold in super G, had a near-flawless ride and took the lead by 74 hundredths.
Shortly after her, German Lena Dürr drove into second place and Italy’s Sofia Goggia into third, poking Hector down to shared fourth.
Swedish Estelle Alphand had a weak first run and was 2.79 behind the lead. The third and last starting Swede, Hanna Aronsson Elfmann, was just over half a second faster and came in 2.27 behind the lead.
In the second run each Federica Brignone in a class apart.
And behind her there was a shared Nordic silver celebration – Sara Hector and Thea Louise Stjernesund.
Hanna Aronsson Elfman finished 21st and Estelle Alphand 27th.
date:2026-02-15 16:36:00
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