Old-stagers rolling back the years

On the first Monday of the Games, Clarey won the men's downhill silver medal in his fourth Olympic appearance.

"I knew I only had one chance left in my career to get a medal in the Olympics. I was just pushing a lot and taking a lot of risks," he said.

The Frenchman has been something of a late bloomer, and has several records to his name in the latter portion of his career. In January 2021, he became the oldest Alpine skier to make the podium in a World Cup race. On Jan 21 this year, he extended his own record by finishing second in the men's downhill in Kitzbuehel. He is also the oldest world championship medalist, having won super-G silver in 2019.

Clarey has never won any of Alpine skiing's major titles, but he said of that elusive gold medal: "I've thought about it, but now, it's not an absolute goal. It doesn't become an obsession. I'm very proud of my career."

Ammann, the only ski jumper to have won a golden double in normal hill and large hill individual events at two Olympics (Salt Lake City 2002 and Vancouver 2010), is back for a record seventh consecutive Games.

Ammann suffered concussion during the Four Hills Tournament in 2015 which sparked rumors he could retire. However, he announced his comeback in May of that year.

He finished 25th in both the normal hill and large hill individual events at the Beijing Winter Olympics.