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Samantha Hayes Reporting There was no room for the Americans, or athletes from any other country for that matter, on the podium after the men's slalom. The Austrians swept that event, taking the gold, silver and bronze.
It added up to disappointing results for the U.S. men's ski team. The top two, Miller and Ligety, were eliminated.
Bode Miller did not talk to the media after being diqualified from the race when he straddled a gate. He leaves the Olympics 0-5. Local favorite Ted Ligety was also disqualified for straddling a gate.
Ted Ligety/ U.S. Ski Team: "I hoped today would be my day to shine, but it didn't really work out that way."
Had he not already won gold, Ted Ligety's reaction to straddling a gate in his best event probably would have been much different.
Ted Ligety/ U.S. Ski Team: "In general, I felt like I was skiing okay, and then in the middle of the course, on one of the hairpins, I stuck my ski in between the two gates and I straddled it. So, there was nothing I could really do."
Anything can happen in a race, and as a first time Olympian, Ligety says sometimes luck has a lot to do with it.
Ted Ligety/ U.S. Ski Team: "Here, I felt like I was skiing good. Bad luck, but I had enough good luck in the combined it makes up for the bad luck."
Ligety, 21, did not face the same high expectations coming into the games as that of his teammate Body Miller, who was disqualified in three of his five races, and leaves the Olympics without a medal.
