ALPINE SKIING: Louis Muhlen has finished his Lillehammer 2016 campaign with an unfortunate DNF in the slalom at Hafjell Olympic Slope.

The 17-year-old from South Yarra in Melbourne followed in the footsteps of teammate Katie Parker, straddling about 30 seconds into his run to be knocked out of his final individual competition in Lillehammer.

“I’m not entirely sure what happened out there,” he said.

“I was really happy with how I was skiing and then I tried to pre-empt it coming over this last roll a little too much and just got a little ahead of myself and ended up straddling which is really quite annoying.

“It wasn’t the day I wanted to have but I can’t do anything about it so I have to just move on from it.”

Muhlen had a four race program in the Lillehammer 2016 alpine competition finishing 29th and 17th in the Super G and Combined before missing out in both the slalom and giant slalom.

He also managed to fit in the ski cross competition where he surprised most of the field to win the bronze medal.

“It’s been pretty unreal, the way it has been set up is just phenomenal. A big thank you to everyone who has organised everything.

“It’s been a great experience, really fun and an opportunity to meet new people.”

Despite his last race disappointment Muhlen believes Lillehammer 2016 will grow as a skier.

“It’s great to see where the rest of the world is at. If you can learn something from every race that you do then you are doing something right.”

Muhlen and Parker are still a chance to be a part of the mixed team parallel event on Saturday. They currently sit 17th in the order of entry with the top 16 teams competing. They will need a team to pull out to sneak into the field.

Matt Bartolo
olympics.com.au