Brady Leman made it to the men’s ski cross final, but was shutout from a medal as France swept the podium.
Leman, of Calgary, wore the red bib in each of his runs, which means he had the fastest run time going into each race.
In his quarter-final and semifinal races, he jumped out to an early lead, and never looked back.
But he failed to get that lead in the final, as the three French competitors – -Jean Frederic Chapuis, Arnaud Bovolenta, and Jonathan Midol — boxed him in from the start.
@Lemanracing “I’m still proud of what I did here today, I fought hard for Canada” #CBCOlympics pic.twitter.com/dUeq9rvVrg
— carly agro (@CarlyCBCSports) February 20, 2014
Leman spent most of the race in fourth place. He crashed towards the end of the race as he was making a move to try to get into medal position.
Heartbreaking finish for @Lemanracing crashing in final to finish 4th. Came back from 3 broken legs to make Olympic final. #CBCOlympics
— Kate Pettersen (@KatePettersen_) February 20, 2014
Leman’s teammates, David Duncan and Chris Del Bosco, failed to advance past the round of 16.
Duncan stumbled in his heat, losing enough speed to fall back into last place. Del Bosco initially led his heat, but got passed and finished third.
While they were disappointed…
@chrisdelbosco “Ive waited for this for four years- it’s tough, really tough” #CBCOlympics pic.twitter.com/1DTOfzormI
— carly agro (@CarlyCBCSports) February 20, 2014
… they stayed to cheer their fellow Canadian on.
@DuncBadunc “today was just not my day, now it’s all about @Lemanracing” #CBCOlympics pic.twitter.com/ieuevwM47J
— carly agro (@CarlyCBCSports) February 20, 2014
Ski cross can be a wild, intense, and unpredictable sport. It is a freestyle skiing event, as the course tends to feature terrain similar to that found in freestyle. But some argue that it should be categorized as an alpine sport since it is a timed event, and most competitors come from alpine programs. Still, crashes, lead changes, and photo finishes are not uncommon.
Is this the greatest photo finish ever? The action has been fast and crazy in the #SkiCross this morning. pic.twitter.com/hUDzw2z53t
— Sochi 2014 (@Sochi2014) February 20, 2014