Slovenia’s snowboarder misses Olympic bronze in dramatic photo finish

Slovenia's snowboarder Tim Mastnak missed Olympic bronze in the men's parallel giant slalom in the Livigno Snow Park by a whisker. He was pipped to the medal by Bulgaria's Tervel Zamfirov in a dramatic photo finish.

The 35-year-old, who won silver at the Beijing Olympics four years ago, took perhaps the most thankless 4th place in Slovenia's Olympic history, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.

In the small final, he fell slightly behind Zamfirov in the upper section of the course, but then stepped on the gas to catch up and cross the finish line with Zamfirov. The photo finish, however, awarded the medal to Zamfirov.

"I watched the recording. He really was a finger's length faster. I have no complaints. It's a shame there's a photo finish, otherwise we would both have been third," disappointed Mastnak said after the race.

"Yes, it was dramatic, the whole race was dramatic, from the qualifiers to the final. The start wasn't the best, I have to be satisfied with what I achieved, but losing by a photo finish in the small final of the Olympic Games isn't the easiest thing," he added.

Tight race with back-to-back Olympic champion

Mastnak was 15th in the qualifying round, but then beat the home favourite, World Cup leader Aaron March in the round of 16. He went on to edge another Italian, Mirko Felicetti, in the quarter-finals, to advance to the medal round.

The semi-final saw a repeat of the Beijing final between Mastnak and Austria's Benjamin Karl. The pair were neck and neck but in the final stretch, the defending Beijing champion was slightly better and advanced to the final, where he beat South Korea's Kim Sangkyum to claim another gold.

"Benny, my role model, and I have had a few duels like this before. I think I have the upper hand in our head-to-head matches, but he's obviously better in big races, in races that matter most," Mastnak said about the back-to-back Olympic champion.

But he said he had nothing to reproach himself for and it would be difficult for him to do anything better.

"I can only regret the upper part of the small final, where I lost bronze. In the middle of the course, I told myself that I couldn't finish fourth, and I rode great after that, but unfortunately, it wasn't enough," said Mastnak.

End of Olympic medal era for Slovenian snowboarders

Slovenia's three-time Olympic medallist Žan Košir and fellow teammate Rok Marguč finished in the round of 16, placing 12th and 16th overall. Gloria Kotnik, the Beijing bronze medallist, failed to make it past the qualifying round in the women's competition.

This is the fist time since the 2014 Sochi Games that Slovenian snowboarders will not take home any medal from the Olympics. Košir, 41, won silver in the parallel slalom and bronze in the parallel giant slalom in Sochi as well as silver in the parallel giant slalom in Pyeongchang in 2018, while Mastnak won silver and Kotnik bronze in Beijing.

Photo: Jure Makovec/STA