There she was, standing in the finish area of ​​the Yanqing slalom slope, staring blankly back at the Olympic slope, probably looking for the hundredths of a second she had left there.

And then pulled the ski goggles back over her face after tears of disappointment had welled up in her eyes.

Lena Dürr from Germering had just missed the gold medal at the Olympic Games by a tiny 0.19 seconds.

And, worse still, a whopping seven-hundredths of a bronze.

Fourth.

The perceived maximum penalty at the Olympics.

Achim Dreis

sports editor.

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And less than thirty meters away, the three lucky winners posed in the snow for the quick photos of the winners, who after the first round would hardly have expected this podium constellation: Slovakian Petra Vlhova cheered as Olympic champion together with Austrian Katharina Liensberger and Wendy Holdener from Switzerland, who secured bronze.

Three top skiers, who had moved up from eighth, seventh and fifth place after the first round in the second.

And the leader after the first round?

Missed her chance on the steep slope.

"Now it's really hurting," Lena Dürr confessed bravely, but also sobbing in the first interview with ZDF.

“Very close” and “really so close” were her recurring words – and the fact that it was a “great race” overall, as the reporter assured her, could not be accepted as consolation: “Not at all”.

The 30-year-old Lena Dürr was confident in the second run.

"That doesn't stress me now," she had said casually about the situation that she should be the last of the favorites to start the race for the medals.

"I have a plan," she announced for the second run and concluded with the words: "That was a lot of fun."

She had every reason to be confident, because the current winter was by far the best in her career.

After a long run of around 170 World Cup races, she finally made it into the world elite.

She had already been on the podium in slalom three times.

Only Vlhová, Holdener and the American Mikaela Shiffrin were better this season than Lena Dürr, whose father was once a downhill skier in the World Cup.

As fourth in the slalom classification, she traveled to distant China.

And she felt comfortable there too, sharing a flat with young Emma Aicher, who finished 18th on Wednesday, and speed driver Kira Weidle, whose Olympic challenges are still to come.

All three of them announced that they had "a great fun".

And anyone who saw Weidle cheering for her roommate and teammate in the finish area immediately believed that the German women were in the right mood.

And then came the showdown at Olympiaberg.

Opened by Petra Vlhová, the overall World Cup winner from last winter and the leading slalom skier of the current season.

By her standards, she messed up the first run and was only eighth, 72 hundredths behind Lena Dürr, who used the favor of starting number 1 with her sensitive driving style to set the fastest time.

Vlhová, on the other hand, struggled with the aggressive artificial snow, which didn't suit her equally aggressive driving style with high edge pressure.

Her luck should be that the second run was flagged out by her trainer Mauro Pini.

An experienced coach, who had already given Tina Maze the highest honors and who tailored a slightly twisting run for his current driver, in which the Slovakian could show off her outstanding technique.

Best time for the 26-year-old, but should it be enough?

Katharina Liensberger was the next to start.

Last year's world champion.

She also drove the second run more courageously, but at Vlhova's time eight hundredths were missing.

rank two.

The American Paula Moltzan messed up her ride.

And Wendy Holdener, the "eternal second" finished third and got used to the idea that it probably wouldn't be enough for a medal.

But the Slovenian Andreja Slokar drove well afterwards, but not well enough.

The newly crowned Olympic champion Sara Hector seemed inspired by giant slalom gold on the way to another best time, but then a threader stopped the Swede.

And Michelle Gisin, the level-headed Swiss woman who always warms up to her runs with hearty singing, approached the work too timidly this time: out of the medal ranks.

At this point, Mikaela Shiffrin only seemed like a tragic marginal figure.

The star of the scene, who had already entered the giant slalom three days ago after ten seconds, was eliminated at the fourth goal in the first run.

And this time the American couldn't hold back her tears.

"It's not the end of the world," said the 26-year-old after her second debacle within a few days: "But I think I have to question a lot." She announced that she would try to press the reset button again : "Maybe I'll do better this time," she said.

Even if you don't know exactly how.

Should Lena Dürr be able to seize the moment?

Should she become the fourth German slalom Olympic champion after Rosi Mittermaier in 1976, Hilde Gerg in 1998 and Maria Höfl-Riesch in 2010?

A three-quarters of a second lead took her on the journey through the 65 goals.

The start was successful, the lead held.

But then came the steep slope.

She lost the rhythm.

"One mistake too many," she said afterwards in a toneless voice.

Even the "last hairpin didn't go well".

The split seconds melted like medal dreams melted in Yanqing's artificial snow.

Ninth best running time.

4th best overall time.

The Tin Medal.

"It's really just bitter," said Lena Dürr, but showed size and concluded with the words: "Thank you for keeping your fingers crossed."