The Austrian, whose father Hubert Strolz won a gold medal in the Alpine Combined at the Olympic Games in Calgary in 1988, based his achievement on a solid Downhill, he finished 4th only 0.75 seconds behind speed specialist Aleksander Aamodt Kilde. In the Slalom, he set the best time +1.34 faster than Kilde, The 29-year-old from Vorarlberg won his Olympic debut today ahead of the Norwegian Aleksander Aamodt Kilde (+0.59). Bronze went to Canada's James Crawford (0.68).
34 years after his father, Johannes Strolz became Olympic champion in the Alpine Combined. This is the first time in Alpine history that father and son are Olympic champions in the same discipline.
In January, Strolz won in Adelboden his first World Cup race. Before Adelboden, the best result in the World Cup for Strolz was 10th position in Madonna di Campiglio in 2020.
"It means so much to me, especially because of my father's story. When I think about all the pictures and my father's gold medal, it's hard for me not to cry. First of all, I have to thank my family. They always believed in me and now a dream has come true – the same gold my dad made”, said Strolz.
"I learned from my dad that you have to work really hard, and even if things don't go well, you have to push through. But both my parents taught me that. That you just have to be diligent in life and stick together and just always look ahead", he added.
Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, who started the slalom first after setting the best time in the Downhill run, won his second medal in Beijing after winning bronze in the Super-G.
“It was quite amazing. I haven’t skied slalom in two years. I just had a good feeling when I was skiing. I went for it, just pointed the skis, and tried to stay in balance. It’s huge. What an Olympic Games it has been. Of course some emotions on the way, but still quite amazing”, Kilde said.
James Crawford landed a real coup by winning the bronze medal. The Canadian speed specialist - never on the podium in the World Cup - put on an amazing slalom and missed silver by just 0.09 seconds. Four years ago in Pyeongchang, Crawford had finished the Alpine Combined in 20th place.
"At the Olympics, a medal is everything. I feel relief. I’ve been searching for a podium on the World Cup circuit for so long, and I knew it was around the corner. Today things finally all came together”, Crawford said.
