The first medals

LIVE: Final! Sabine Payer has secured the medal

Benjamin Karl celebrates wildly after his victory, while Sabine Payer is delighted with her silver medal.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Gepa, AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Austria has won its first two medals at the Olympic Games in Italy: Benjamin Karl took gold in the snowboard parallel giant slalom on Sunday. Sabine Payer snatched silver in the women's event.

Benjamin Karl sensationally won Olympic gold in the parallel giant slalom, as he did in 2022, and finally crowned himself an Austrian sporting icon. Earlier, Carinthian Sabine Payer had overcome her "Olympic curse." She crowned her career with silver, losing only to Zuzana Maderova in the final.

Sabine Payer(Bild: Christof Birbaumer)

Benjamin Karl, who already had a complete set of Olympic medals before the Games, defeated South Korea's Kim Sang-kyum by 0.19 seconds in the final, having previously been behind. After silver in 2010, bronze in 2014, and gold in 2022, the five-time world champion triumphed once again under the five rings.

Sabine Payer defeats Ledecka
Payer paved her way to a medal in the quarterfinals, defeating Czech favorite Ester Ledecka by six hundredths of a second and then going on to defeat eventual bronze medalist Lucia Dalmasso of Italy in the semifinals. In the grand final, however, the 33-year-old Carinthian had to admit defeat to Zuzana Maderova, Ledecka's compatriot, by 0.83 seconds after several mistakes.

  Karl had prevailed against Slovenia's Tim Mastnak by 0.24 seconds in the semifinals in a repeat of the 2022 Olympic final. Prior to that, he had narrowly defeated the strong Italian Maurizio Bormolini by 3 hundredths of a second in an exciting round of 16 match, setting up an Austrian duel with Andreas Prommegger. The latter had previously beaten South Korea's Lee Sangho by 0.17 seconds in the round of 16. In the quarterfinal duel with Karl, Prommegger was beaten by 0.12 seconds in his sixth Olympic Games, leaving him without an Olympic medal.

Benjamin Karl(Bild: AFP/KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV)

  Claudia Riegler also advanced to the round of 16. However, the 52-year-old then had no chance against Czech Olympic champion Ester Ledecka.

ÖSV trio eliminated in qualifying
Three Austrians hadalreadybeen eliminated in the qualifying round with two timed runs. Among them was Fabian Obmann, who had been hoping for a medal after three recent podium finishes. "It's a selective slope with a few bumps, we never trained for that," said Obmann. He lost 1.90 seconds to the fastest competitors in the first run due to a serious mistake on one of these bumps before the flat section. "I know I had the speed to win a medal. It hurts a lot when it ends before the actual race," said the Carinthian, who finished only 20th. "I started with full confidence. I'm sorry that my family and friends couldn't watch me any longer."

Alexander Payer (17th) was also eliminated and then kept his fingers crossed for his wife Sabine. "Whether you finish 15th or 17th at the Olympics doesn't really matter. What surprises me more is the time gap to the Italians. I don't know how I could have skied the 2.50 faster – I have no idea." It can't be a question of equipment. "They can't have a miracle board because I'm riding the same one as Aaron. They are in top form and are performing extremely well." Martina Ankele (23rd) also had to watch from the sidelines in the round of 16.

Snowboard – Parallel Giant Slalom, Men (in Livigno):
Gold: Benjamin Karl (AUT)
Silver: Kim Sang-kyum (KOR)
Bronze: Terwel Samfirow (BUL)

Snowboard - Parallel Giant Slalom, Women (in Livigno):
Gold: Zuzana Maderova (CZE)
Silver: Sabine Payer (AUT)
Bronze: Lucia Dalmasso (ITA)