Latvia Olympic Debut: 9-Second Race – 2026 Games

Jenifera Gërmane, born in Valmiera, started with number 17. This season, the Latvian alpine skier had demonstrated fantastic results, entering the top 30 of the World Cup stages in five out of six starts, three of them also in the top 10 with 7th place in Kranska Gora as independent Latvia’s highest place ever. The only time she didn’t make it into the top 30 was after a fall in the first run in Flahava, where luckily she didn’t get injured. However, the Olympic start for the Latvian flag bearer came with great disappointment.

In just the ninth second, the world junior champion from Latvia made a turn to the left, but a small mistake cost everything. The ski of the left leg went to the wrong side of the goal, which led to the withdrawal. Đermane was not the only one who failed in the first race, as another 30 athletes did not reach the result in the first slalom race. The women didn’t have as many exits as the men, with Jennifer one of five in the Top30 to go scoreless on the first circuit. There were eleven for men.

After the competition, Đermane told LTV correspondent Matīs TImofejev: “Yesterday I said that I don’t want to regret not doing something enough. I tried to go as straight and aggressive as I could. It was a centimeter too much.”

“The difference is a centimeter. You can feel the skis, of course. You can go to the maximum and have the straightest line, but sometimes it can be too straight. I wouldn’t say that this is a typical mistake for me, but it happens once a year in competitions. It’s a pity that it was exactly in this competition,” the Latvian alpine skier admitted.

“Carrying the flag in the first games… The second person was also chosen so very popular [Kaspars Daugaviņš]. It is a great honor. She wanted to have given a show to everyone in Latvia and completed two trips. It is as it is. It’s slalom,” the athlete did not hide her bitterness.

The other representative of Latvia, Liene Bondare, started with number 67 in her second Olympic Games. The 29-year-old alpine skier, with a small caution in the first race, showed a result of 53.95 seconds, which gave her 53rd place.

The American Mikaela Shiffrin, who demonstrated a strong performance in the first half of the season and won seven World Cup victories this season, is 0.82 seconds ahead of her nearest competitor and has applied to repeat her 2014 success. Just as four years ago, the German Lena Dier, who is second, made a great start, but the Swede, born in 2005, Cornelia Ålunde, which is the third.

The vice-leader of the World Cup and the only one who has managed to beat Shifrin this season – Kamilla Rasat from Switzerland, is in fourth place in the tight results from third to sixth place. The slalom medalist of the previous two Olympic Games, Wendy Holdener, is sixth.

On the other hand, defending champion Petra Vlhova, who did not compete for two years while recovering from an injury, shares the 29th place.

OS women’s alpine skiing slalom after the 1st run

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