Croatian representative Dino Sokolović won the gold in the skiing slalom at the 12th Winter Paralympic Games in Pyeongchang.
On the eighth day of the competition, Croatia’s slalom racing continued – and after Bruno Bošnjak brought Croatia their first medal with the bronze in banked snowboarding, Dino Sokolović won the gold medal in the slalom, reports Gol.hr on March 17, 2018.
After the first run Sokolović was in third place with a time of 49.13 seconds, and in the second run he showed his superiority – but with a total time of 1:39.82, he won the first gold for Croatia in winter sports. The silver medal went to American Tyler Walker who had a time of 1:40.55, and the bronze to Frederic Francois with a time of 1:42.03.
“To be honest, I did not expect the gold after placing third in the first run. The second run was much harder for me, and others did not make it this time – but I did. I was not replaying the movie from Sochi in my head when I was left without a medal, but I was just a little afraid of losing my third place due to some of my mistakes. Many who are perhaps better than me failed today. This time, the dice were in my favor,” Sokolović said and continued:
“The competition in Pyeongchang is far stronger than four years ago in Sochi; however, I was fortunate, because the first run on the track was so demanding that some of my competitors had worse runs or gave up. When I entered the goal of the second run, the first thing that went through my head was that I would have a medal. In the first run, I was behind the leading Dutchman Jeroen Kampschreur, who is currently the best skier, but this time failed to finish the race. This Paralympic gold is dedicated to my wife Barbara and daughter Vita,” concluded the new Paralympic champion Dino Sokolović.
Luka Dobrinić, the coach and trainer of Dino Sokolović, could not hide his tears as it was such an emotionally charged time for the both of them. “The injustice from Sochi was corrected in Pyeongchang and all the effort, sweat and will have paid off over these four years,” said Dobrinić.
Lovro Dokić competed in the race of standing riders with a time of 1:03.64, and at the end of the second run, he was 22nd. Damir Mizdrak competed with the visually impaired and blind with a time of 2:01.32, taking the 9th place.
Eva Goluža performs on Sunday in the slalom.
With the gold of Sokolović and the bronze of Bošnjak, Croatia has entered the list of 25 nations that won medals at the 12th Winter Paralympic Games in Pyeongchang.
Translated from Gol.hr
