Israeli skier Szollos caps off successful Olympic run with 23rd place in slalom
Hungarian-born athlete had already matched Israel’s best Winter Games finish with a 6th place in the alpine combined, and is now setting his sights on 2026
Amy Spiro is a reporter and writer with The Times of Israel
Israeli skier Barnabas Szollos wrapped up his time at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics with a solid performance at the men’s slalom on Wednesday, finishing in 23rd place overall out of 87 competitors.
For the first run, the temperature at the top of the hill was minus 18.5° Celsius (minus 1° Fahrenheit). The freezing conditions made for an icy and slippery slope that caused 34 of the 87 athletes to fail to finish the opening leg.
France’s Clement Noel took home gold in the event by a large margin, followed by Johannes Strolz of Austria who won silver and Sebastian Foss-Solevaag of Norway who picked up the bronze.
“Today was my last race, the slalom,” Szollos told Israeli reporters in a video message on Wednesday following his run. “I achieved everything I wanted to. My plan was to be in [the] top 30.”
The Hungarian-born Szollos, 23, made his Olympic debut at Beijing, and ended up in the spotlight after finishing in a surprising sixth overall in the men’s alpine combined — including a second-place finish in the slalom leg of that event.
That result was the best-ever finish for Israel in an Olympic ski competition, and tied for Israel’s best Winter Olympics ranking ever.
Yaniv Ashkenazi, the head of Israel’s delegation to Beijing, told reporters ahead of the Games that it would be “a very impressive achievement” if Szollos finished his races in the top half of athletes.
In summing up his experience on Wednesday, Szollos said, “I’m really happy with that. I didn’t expect to be that good in alpine combined, so that was a surprise for me and for everyone. I had a great time here in the Olympic Village… I’m really happy to represent Israel in these Games and hopefully also in the next one.”
Szollos’s finish means that the majority of Israel’s six athletes at the 2022 Games have completed their events. Szollos’s sister Noa Szollos, 19, who made her Olympic debut as Israel’s first-ever female Olympic skier, completed the women’s Super-G in 34th place and the slalom in 41st, crashing out in the giant slalom and not completing the race.
After the completion of her Olympic experience, Noa Szollos wrote on Instagram that “it was a lot of fun but I’ve also learned a lot, I’ve still got a long way ahead of me. To a more successful Olympics in 2026!”
Speed skater Vladislav Bykanov, competing in his third Olympics for Israel, had his best-ever Games, advancing to the quarterfinals in the 500m and the semifinals in the 1500m.
Figure skater Alexei Bychenko, also at his third Olympics, fell during his short program and did not advance to the free skate.
The only Israeli athletes left to compete in Beijing are pairs figure skaters Hailey Kops and Evgeni Krasnopolski.
Kops, a newcomer, and Krasnopolski, at his third Olympics, will skate in the short program on Friday, aiming to perform well enough to be one of the 16 couples to advance to the free skate on Saturday.
AP contributed to this report.
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