Atle Lie McGrath of Norway entered the second run of the Olympic men's slalom with a 0.59-second lead over Switzerland's Loic Meillard. During his second run, McGrath straddled a gate — a technical error where a skier's legs pass on opposite sides of a gate pole — which immediately disqualified him from the race under slalom rules. After the mistake, McGrath threw his ski poles over the course netting, climbed the fencing, and walked toward the woods where he sat and lay in the snow. Medical personnel checked on him. He later returned to the finish area and, after initially declining to speak, met with media approximately two hours later at his team hotel.
Meillard won gold with a combined time of 1:53.61, Austria's Fabio Gstrein took silver, and McGrath's Norwegian teammate Henrik Kristoffersen won bronze. The first run occurred in difficult conditions with heavy snowfall, causing 52 of 96 competitors to fail to finish. McGrath had been racing while grieving his grandfather Svein Lie, who died at age 83 on opening ceremony day. McGrath wore an armband in tribute and later told reporters he had hoped to honor his grandfather with a victory. The 25-year-old, born in Vermont but raised in Norway, is a five-time World Cup slalom winner and leads this season's World Cup slalom standings.