ALPINE SKIING: On Day 12 of the Games, Australian alpine skiers Dominic Demschar and Ross Peraudo have finally done what they came here to do: race fast.

The Olympic debutants were welcomed by blue skies, hard snow and some of Alpine Skiing’s greatest racers for the men’s Giant Slalom at Rosa Khutor Alpine Centre. 

Demschar improved in his second run to finish 39th, while Peraudo went for it but found himself “flying a little more than I expected,” missed a gate in his second run and recorded a DNF. 

The Aussie pair had finished the first of two runs 42nd (Demschar - 1:26.47) and 50th (Peraudo - 1:29.07).

They were 5.39 and 7.99 seconds behind American leader Ted Ligety respectively. 

“I’m still pretty young compared to most of these guys,” 20-year-old Demschar said.  

“It’s cool to sit at the bottom and watch them before you go and realise you’ve got to chase that,” said Demschar, who was the 43rd skier down the hill in the first run.

“I was happy with my first race. It was a long course and I was tired at the bottom. I think I could have been a little stronger but it was fun.”

In the second run Demschar cut more time off the leaders.

His time of 1:27.34 was a shorter 4.11 off Ligety, who ultimately claimed gold ahead of Frenchmen Steve Missillier and Alexis Pinturault.

Demschar was 8.48 behind Ligety’s total time.

“I’m happy with that second run. I was closer to the leaders so that’s good,” Demschar said. 

“I thought I was a bit better prepared for it. It felt better that run. I don’t know if it was just the course or what it was but my legs felt better in the finish.” 

Demschar shrugged off back complaints that ruled him out of the Super G event earlier in the Games.

“My back is feeling ok. It held up fine. It was tightened up between runs, but once I went out of the gate adrenalin took over and it was ok.” 

The Australians really pushed themselves on a course that claimed 32 DNFs, including 21-year-old Peraudo.

“It started off well and then over a bump I went flying more than I expected and jumped nearly over the next gate which is a shame,” he said of his second run.

“It doesn’t look that difficult, but there’s a lot of terrain to it so you have to inspect really well, and it’s a really long course so you get really tired down the bottom, so it’s pretty hard actually.”

Race winner Ligety created history as the first the first American man to win two Olympic gold medals in Alpine Skiing.

It was also a wonderful day for the French who collected silver and bronze, but you did not have to be on the podium for it to be memorable. 

“It’s a dream come true,” Peraudo said of his first race in an Olympic Team uniform. 

“Everything was special. The experience, the race - it was fun to see the other guys go, you know, the best in the world win and try and learn something from them. It was just all an amazing experience.”