Greek skier AJ Ginnis lost his gold medal in the slalom of the World Cup in Palisades Tahoe, USA. The skier achieved the best result but was later disqualified by the judges.
The referees consulted for about 30 minutes. It was determined that Ginnis had missed a single gate flag between the skis on his second attempt, and therefore his result should be nullified.
Ginnis' victory could have been the first for Greece in Alpine Skiing World Cup history.
As a result, the first place in the slalom was taken by the Norwegian Alexander Steen Olsen, and his compatriot Timon Haugan came second. Bulgarian Albert Popov and Frenchman Clément Noël became bronze medalists.
AJ Ginnis stood on the World Cup podium for the first time just weeks ago, finishing second in the Chamonix slalom before heading to World Championships and earning the first World Championship medal for himself and his country, a silver in slalom.
A win at Palisades would have been his first. And despite bearing the blue and white flag of his birth nation, Greece, Tahoe still felt like racing at home.
Born in Athens, Ginnis moved to the U.S. in his teens and attended Green Valley Mountain School in Killington, Vermont, before being pulled up to compete for the U.S. Ski Team. He earned two World Cup starts under the American flag before electing to race collegiately at Dartmouth and surrendering his spot on the national team. Ever since, he’s run independently, trying to find his way back onto the World Cup tour. And eventually, he did, but this time representing his birth nation.
And after two years away from the tour, the Palisades Tahoe crowd cheered just as loudly for Ginnis as they did for any U.S. Ski Teamer and felt the same disappointment when the potential fairy tale win turned out to be too good to be true.
