Alpine skiing-Norway's McGrath leads crash-strewn men's slalom, Pinheiro Braathen exits

BORMIO, Italy, Feb 16 : Norway's Atle Lie McGrath led a crash-hit Olympic men's slalom with the fastest time of a first run that many favourites including Brazil's Lucas Pinheiro Braathen failed to complete on Monday.

Driving snow and a tricky course setup made conditions treacherous for the final men's Alpine skiing race but World Cup slalom leader McGrath had no trouble.

Benefiting from being the first skier on a bloated 96-man start list, the 25-year-old McGrath was smooth and clinical to stop the clock on 56.14 seconds.

He will take an advantage of 0.59 seconds over Swiss world champion Loic Meillard into the second leg later. Austria's Fabio Gstrein was third-quickest, 0.94 seconds off the pace.

Norway-born Braathen, who on Saturday won the giant slalom to give Brazil and South America a first-ever Winter Olympic medal, began well but lost control midway down and slid out.

Several top contenders suffered the same fate including France's Paco Rassat who straddled a gate and Austria's Manuel Feller. France's reigning Olympic champion Clement Noel got down but was 1.96 seconds behind in a tie for seventh place with Austria's Marco Schwarz.

GRANDFATHER INSPIRED MCGRATH TO TAKE UP SKIING

McGrath, who was born in Vermont but moved to Norway when he was two with his American father Felix and Norwegian mother Selma Lie, is racing little more than a week after the death of his 83-year-old grandfather Svein Lie, who he credits for inspiring his sporting journey.

"I really like when I can just go out and set the standard. So that was my goal," McGrath, who was fifth in the giant slalom, said. "This is a huge challenge for an Alpine skier. Maybe the biggest there is, but I'm ready."

Norway is yet to win a medal in the men's Alpine