Johannes Strolz races with one ski pole but Austria still win gold in the mixed team parallel final

Johannes Strolz lost one of his ski poles as he raced down the course at the Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Centre in the mixed team parallel final on Sunday, and still helped his team win the gold medal. The Austrian, who won Olympic gold in the men's Alpine combined and secured a silver medal in the slalom, was part of a winning team that included Katharina Liensberger, Katharina Truppe and Stefan Brennsteiner. Ad/> The team went on to beat Germany in the final to seal Strolz's third Olympic medal, but for the 29-year-old it was not without a slight hitch.

/> Beijing 2022‘Just a few hundreths of a second!’ — Radamus collapses into wall as US and Shiffrin denied medal2 HOURS AGO Racing in the unfavourable red lane up against Alexander Schmid, Strolz lost one of his ski poles in the first section of the course. «Strolz has lost a pole! Strolz has lost his ski pole!» Eurosport's Nick Fellows shouted on commentary. Despite the disadvantage, the Austrian was still able to complete the course in 25.17 seconds; 1.30 seconds behind Schmid.

/> Austria held on for gold as Schmid's time was not quick enough to prevent the Austrians from winning their third alpine skiing gold at Beijing. «It's a nice way to end the Olympics, with a medal,» said Strolz, whose father also won Olympic gold in the combined in 1988. It's been a remarkable turnaround for Strolz, who was axed from the Austrian World Cup team last year following a run of poor results.