Dave Ryding unable to repeat World Cup heroics but finishes 13th in slalom after ‘fantastic’ second run at Beijing 2022

ByMichael Hincks

Updated 16/02/2022 at 10:03 GMT

Dave Ryding’s 50.44 in the second slalom run saw him temporarily go top of the leaderboard at Beijing 2022 with a combined time of 1:45.57, but the Briton quickly slipped away from medal contention. The 35-year-old, nicknamed ‘The Rocket’ and competing at his fourth Olympics, eventually placed 13th as Clement Noel won gold ahead of Johannes Strolz.

Team GB’s Dave Ryding recorded a 13th-place finish in the slalom at Beijing 2022 after errors in the first run gave him too much to do in Run 2.

Ryding, who made history when winning the World Cup event in Kitzbuhel last month, was 1.21 seconds behind leader Johannes Strolz going into the second run and was placed 16th overall.

The 35-year-old had improved his slalom standing each time at the past three Olympics – from 27th in Vancouver, to 17th in Sochi, to ninth in Pyeongchang last time out.

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However, on this occasion he was unable to beat his efforts from four years ago, posting a combined time of 1:45.57 after a second run of 50.44 saw him finish 13th in the standings.

In his first run, Ryding was in the green after the first two splits, but a costly error saw him slip 0.5 seconds behind before finishing more than a second off the pace.

Ryding declared “anything is possible” and vowed to “fully attack” the second run, and the Briton was the 15th to go out in Run 2 as the top 30 went down in reverse order.

• 'Magical!' - Noel wins slalom gold after 'sensational' second run, Ryding finishes 13th
• ‘Anything is possible’ - Ryding, 16th, out to ‘attack’ second slalom run
• Ryding a second off the slalom pace after costly mistakes in first run

'I wasn't on my A-game - it's a shame' - GB's Ryding frustrated with Beijing performance

That gave Ryding the chance to post a time worthy of topping the standings, even if temporarily, and he was able to do just that.

“Look at Ryding go!” said Nick Fellows on Eurosport commentary, with former Olympian Finlay Mickel adding: “Lightning quick moves, these are the turns he loves. He’s increasing his advantage.”

Ryding stayed in the green throughout and went down in 50.44 to go top of the leaderboard with a 1:45.57.

Mickel said: “Dave can be really happy with that performance. He gave it his all. A fantastic second run for him.” Fellows added: “Born and bred on the dry slope, top of the table at the halfway stage.”

‘A lot of pressure to deal with’ – Rutherford and Carrick-Anderson analyse Ryding run

Ryding remained top as Alexis Pinturault and Atle Lie McGrath could only finish behind the Briton, though he was soon displaced when Daniel Yule went 0.62 seconds quicker overall.

Into silver with 12 riders left, Ryding’s hopes of a medal were hanging by a thread, but they were soon over when Giuliano Razzoli and Ramon Zenhaeusern pushed him down to fourth.

In the end, it was 13th for Ryding, with his time 1.48 seconds slower than that of champion Clement Noel – a case of what might have been with a smoother first run.

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