Beijing 2022: Jack Gower finishes 25th in giant slalom

Jack Gower finished 25th in the men's giant slalom in his final race at the Olympic Games.

The 27-year-old, who switched from Great Britain to Ireland last summer, finished the first run with a time of 1:08.31, in 31st place.

There were 33 non finishers in tricky conditions as heavy snow heightened the challenge.

Gower's second run of 1:12.26 left him with a combined time of 2:20.56, hoisting him up to 25th overall.

Switzerland's Marco Odermatt won the gold medal, holding his nerve to fend off a superb effort from Zan Kranjec of Slovenia.

Odermatt finished with a combined time of 2:09:35, putting him 0.19 seconds ahead of runner-up Kranjec with France's Mathieu Faivre taking bronze.

"I think it's been fun," Gower said afterwards. "I quite like racing in the snow. It’s a winter sport, so that’s definitely no problem for me. I think it’s cool and makes it exciting when the visibility is bad and it’s snowing. It adds something to the race."

As the Games approach the final week, only two Irish athletes remain.

Thomas Maloney Westgaard races the cross-country 50km on 19 February, and Bubba Newby will be in action in the freeski halfpipe qualifiers on 17 February, with the finals two days later.