Competing under adverse conditions in more ways than one, American Nelson Carmichael, who makes his home in Salt Lake City, won the first Olympic bronze medal ever awarded for moguls skiing here Thursday.
The 26-year-old Carmichael, who grew up skiing moguls in Steamboat Springs, Colo., was joined on the medals podium by two French skiers, Edgar Grospiron, who won the gold medal, and Olivier Allamand, who took the silver medal.Yet another French skier, Eric Berthon, finished fourth, barely behind Carmichael and out of the medals.
Grospiron's score for his run down the 300-meter Olympic course was 25.81, followed by Allamand at 24.87, Carmichael at 24.82 and Berthon at 24.79. Canadian John Smart finished fifth in 24.15 and Jorgen Paajarvi of Sweden was sixth in 24.14. Craig Rodman of Park City finished 13th with a score of 21.18 and was the No. 2 American. Chuck Martin of the U.S. team finished 15th at 20.77.
Moguls scoring combines points for technique, jumps, and elapsed time from top to bottom.
Along with Grospiron and Canadian Jean-Luc Brassard, who finished in seventh place, Carmichael was a pre-race favorite in the event - a first in Olympic history - that took place in Tignes, a ski resort high in the Alps some 50 miles from Albertville. In a World Cup event help farther north in France in December, he was the winner.
But this time he faced a formidable challence in the form of the French. The host nation not only fielded the strongest challengers in the field, but on race day also added two more elements - the crowd and the snow.
Only an hour before the event, a major snowstorm moved into the Alps, gaining in intensity as the competition wore on. That was one distraction. The crowd of nearly 10,000 lining the course and packing the stands at the bottom was another.
Bouyed by unaccustomed Olympic success already realized in these Games, and with the news of a one-two sweep Wednesday in nordic combined still fresh in their minds, the pro-French crowd gave Grospiron, Allamand and Berthon considerable encouragement. They chanted for a 1-2-3 sweep.
But still, when Carmichael took his turn, skiing fourth to the last, he was able to pass Berthon on the leaderboard. His time of 32.05 seconds was the fastest of the day to that point and his jumps score, a 6.3, was also the best of the day. He waved his ski pole at the American flags being waved in the crowd as the scoreboard showed him in the No. 1 position, ahead of the Frenchman.
Now he had to survive the runs of Brassard, Allamand and Grospiron, however, in that order.
Brassard, the Canadian, skied a ragged and slow (35.50 - the slowest time of the 16 finalists) run and as the two French skiers awaited their turns, Carmichael knew at least he had medaled.
The question was which color.
Allamand's run, slightly slower (32.91) and with a lower jump score (5.150) but with a better score for technique than Carmichael (13.8 to 12.4), barely edged into the lead by five-hundredths of a point.
Grospiron, however, managed a final run that convincingly passed - by nearly a full point - both Carmichael and Allamand. The French skier's time of 31.23 was fastest of the day, while his 5.0 score for jumps tied for second best and his technique score of 13.6 was second only to Allamand.
No sooner was Grospiron's score flashed on the scoreboard than the ovation for the home skiers began. It lasted through the medals ceremony and into the parking lot where drivers cheerfully put chains on their tires for the ride back down the Alps.
"I would have liked to have done better," said Carmichael. "But it is a wonderful feeling to win an Olympic medal. The Olympics are a culmination of years for me."