Italy wins first gold of the Olympics

WHISTLER, British Columbia, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- Giuliano Razzoli of Italy overcame terrible conditions Saturday to win the Olympic slalom, the final alpine event of the Vancouver Games.

Snow, wind and fog made it almost impossible to turn in decent times and it became a victory for the skiers just to make it down the course.

There were 97 men in the field and 54 of them failed to finish the first of two runs that make up the slalom competition.

Among those who did not complete the course were Americans Bode Miller and Ted Ligety, both of whom missed a gate within moments of each other.

Razzoli had the best time in the morning run and took a 0.43 of a second lead into the afternoon. His combined time of 1:39.32 bettered Croatia's Ivica Kostelic by 0.16 of a second.

Third place went to Andre Myhrer of Sweden, followed by Austrians Benjamin Raich and Marcel Hirscher.

Razzoli's gold was the first by any Italian competitor at these Olympics.

No Austrian man won a medal during the two weeks on Whistler Mountain. It was the first time the men's team from Austria had been shut out in alpine events since 1936.

Although the top Americans failed to make it to the second run of the final alpine event of the Vancouver Olympics, the U.S. skiers still had an excellent Games.

Miller finished with a gold, silver and bronze medal and Lindsey Vonn became the first American woman to win the Olympic downhill.

The United States wound up with eight medals overall, its best alpine showing ever. No other country had more than four.