Austria’s Christoph Sumann took an unlikely route to his first Olympic silver medal on Tuesday, going straight from the potty to the course before claiming a silver medal in the men’s 12.5km pursuit.
The 34-year-old border guard based in Frojach had been suffering for several days before the event but was mightily relieved he did not have to make any further detours while competing.
“I had some problems with my belly and I went straight from the toilet to the track this morning,” the Austrian told reporters after finishing 16.5 seconds behind Bjorn Ferry of Sweden at Whistler Olympic Park.
“I didn’t feel very well yesterday and also in the morning but I could focus on my skiing today. I didn’t have problems during the race and hopefully it will get better from now on.”
Sumann, whose previous best finish at a Winter Olympics was seventh in the 12.5km pursuit in Turin four years ago, improved 10 places from Sunday’s 10km sprint.
“The expectation for today was not that big because I was one-and-a-half minutes behind on the leaderboard,” he said. “But I tried to be calm … and we had really, really good skis today.
“And my shooting was good,” he said after missing only two targets, one in each of the two standing shooting rounds. “I felt good on this range.”
