"Moments after crossing the line, he ripped off his shirt, flexed to the cameras, dropped on to the snow face down and pumped his arms in triumph. The move was not spontaneous, though. It was a long-planned tribute to the Austrian skiing legend Hermann Maier, Karl's childhood hero, who once celebrated in much the same way. He was one of the greatest skiers of all time in Austria and he once did this, Karl said. I always wanted to do the same."
"The victory itself was classic Karl: composed, precise and just dramatic enough. He edged South Korea's Kim Sang-kyum by 0.19sec to secure his fourth Olympic medal, adding to silver from Vancouver 2010, bronze from Sochi 2014 and gold from Beijing. Having already completed the full Olympic medal set, Karl admitted he felt unusually calm heading into the race, carrying less pressure than many of his rivals."
Benjamin Karl, a 40-year-old Austrian snowboarder competing in his fifth Olympics, won the men's parallel giant slalom and claimed his second consecutive Olympic gold. He celebrated by ripping off his shirt, flexing to cameras, dropping onto the snow face down and pumping his arms in a long-planned tribute to Austrian skiing legend Hermann Maier. Karl edged South Korea's Kim Sang-kyum by 0.19 seconds to secure his fourth Olympic medal, adding to silver from Vancouver 2010 and bronze from Sochi 2014, having previously won gold in Beijing. Karl confirmed retirement after this season and said he felt unusually calm before the race. Norway's Sander Eitrem won the men's 5,000m.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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