(Video) Norwegian Skier Atle Lie Mcgrath’s Emotional Reaction After Losing Out On Gold Goes Viral

Atle Lie McGrath’s Olympic slalom gold slipped from his grasp, and after flinging his poles aside, he trudged alone through the snow toward the woods.

(Video) Norwegian Skier Atle Lie Mcgrath’s Emotional Reaction After Losing Out On Gold Goes Viral

Atle Lie McGrath (Image via Getty Images/Screengrab via NBC)

In Short
  • Atle Lie McGrath missed a gate during his final run in the men's slalom, resulting in a DNF and losing his chance at Olympic gold.
  • His emotional reaction was intensified by the recent loss of his grandfather, which affected his perspective on the race.
  • Loic Meillard won gold, while Fabio Gstrein and Henrik Kristoffersen secured silver and bronze, respectively.

Glory was almost his until it wasn’t, and heartbreak was instant for Atle Lie McGrath. Adrenaline still coursing through his veins, the Vermont-born Norwegian felt that cruel depth of defeat as he chucked his poles and retreated to the remote corner, the near-miss hitting him all at once.

The 25-year-old had a lead of 0.59 seconds when he took his second and final run in the men’s slalom. The Olympic gold in the alpine skiing event was within his reach before he missed a gate on the Stelvio slopes. He screamed in frustration as soon as he realized that he’s out, hurling the poles far beyond the safety nets and headed in an aimless direction.

Lie McGrath waddled in the thick blanket of snow, quite reminiscent of the penguin in everyone’s feeds couple of weeks ago, before laying down in a remote corner, still furious about his mistake.

With Lie McGrath recording a DNF, Loic Meillard kept his lead position, securing his first career gold with a combined time of 1:53.61 in his two runs. He added the gold to his silver in the men’s combined and bronze in the men’s giant slalom, becoming the third Swiss man to bag three medals in Milan Cortina.

Fabio Gstrein of Austria finished in second spot behind Meillard, 0.35 seconds separating him from gold. The silver was Gstrein’s first career medal and Austria’s second silver in men’s alpine skiing in 2026. Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway completed the podium with a time of 1:54.74.

Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, who won the men’s giant slalom on Saturday in a historic first for the South American nation of Brazil, failed to finish in the first run. Manuel Feller, who won a silver in the men’s combined, also didn’t make it out of the first run.

Atle Lie McGrath explained the heartbreaking reason behind his emotional outburst after the loss

Atle Lie McGrath, born to an American father and Norwegian mother, explained his emotional reaction following the race. He admitted that he intentionally sought out the edge of the wilderness to have some “peace and quiet” to calm down his nerves after the “worst moment of his career.” However, he said that he wasn’t able to do so because of the police and the photographers.

Atle Lie McGrath heading beyond the safety net into the edge of the woods (Image via Getty Images)
Atle Lie McGrath heading beyond the safety net into the edge of the woods (Image via Getty Images)

Lie McGrath expounded that the reaction wasn’t common for him. He said that the loss of his grandfather, just a day before the Winter Olympics opening ceremony, was still reeling on him.

I’m normally a guy that’s very good when it comes to perspective on things. And if I don’t ski well in a race, I can at least tell myself that I’m healthy and my family’s healthy and the people I love are here. So that’s nice, but that’s not been the case. I’ve lost someone I love so much and that makes it really hard.

Atle Lie McGrath said in the post-race interview

Svein Lie, 83, passed away on February 5 after years of battling dementia. Lie McGrath credited Lie, who was a cross-country skier for more than half a century as well as a Wimbledon juniors player, as the person who got him into cross-country skiing, from where he ventured into alpine skiing.

He was one of the best men I knew. He was the one who got my mum into cross-country skiing and also me into cross-country skiing. He really loved it… He was a huge inspiration and the one who made me fall in love with sports, even if he didn’t know much about Alpine skiing.

Lie McGrath told in an interview with Reuters a few days ago

After the race, he said that even though he had the best start possible, he wasn’t able to finish, which made the loss even more heartbreaking.

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