Norwegian alpine skier Atle Lie McGrath entered the 2026 Winter Olympics with high hopes, having accrued five slalom podiums on the World Cup circuit this season after a world silver medal in 2025.
He left the slalom portion of the Games with heartbreak.
On Monday, Lie McGrath—on the verge of a gold medal—skied out during his final slalom run. Despondent at his near-miss, he responded by flinging both of his ski poles over a fence and skiing toward a wooded area near the course.
Vermont-born Norwegian skier Atle Lie McGrath heads into the final run of the slalom with a massive half-second lead, but misses one of the first gates, hurls his poles as far as he can, and lies down off to the side of the course pic.twitter.com/jCppQoCn8h
— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) February 16, 2026
It capped an emotional week for the Vermont-born skier, who is mourning the Feb. 6 death of his grandfather Svein Lie the night of the opening ceremony.
"He was one of the best men I knew. He was the one who got my mum into cross-country skiing and also me into cross-country skiing. He really loved it," the 25-year-old said Thursday via Martyn Herman of Reuters.
Men’s slalom gold went to Loïc Meillard of Switzerland, followed by Fabio Gstrein of Austria and Lie McGrath’s fellow Norwegian—Henrik Kristoffersen.
Lie McGrath finished fifth in the giant slalom and 12th in the team combined at these Olympics. At Beijing in 2022, he did not finish the giant slalom and finished 31st in the slalom.
More Winter Olympics on Sports Illustrated
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- Ilia Malinin Opens Up About Mental Health in First Social Media Post Since Olympic Upset
- Federica Brignone Becomes Oldest Olympic Giant Slalom Champion
- Amber Glenn’s Arduous Path to the Olympics Turned Her Into a Trailblazer
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Norwegian Skier Fires His Poles Over a Fence After Unexpected Slalom Podium Miss.
