The
Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games
will be forever etched in the memory of
Nicolás Quintero
.
The 17-year-old from Neuquén, who a few days ago was the flag bearer of the national delegation at the opening ceremony, debuted with a great performance at the event in the South Korean city.
He was sixth in the
Super G
alpine skiing and achieved the best result by an Argentine in an individual event in the history of these Games, which are celebrating their fourth edition.
Quintero finished just 0s56 behind the winner, the German
Benno Brandis
, who took the gold medal with 54s42, and 0s20 from the podium, which was completed by the Austrian
Asaja Sturm
and the Slovakian
Andrej Barnas
.
And he thus improved the seventh places that Tiziano Gravier
had achieved
in the
Lausanne 2020
Super G ;
Veronica Ravenna
at the luge competition in
Lillehammer 2016
;
and
Esmeralda Villalonga
in the slopestyle of freestyle skiing also on Norwegian soil eight years ago.
Trained by
Sebastiano Gastaldi
, a historic member of the Argentine ski team (he was an Olympian in
Sochi 2014
and
Pyeongchang 2018
and competed in four world championships in the discipline), Quintero had arrived in Gangwon with the aim of making history.
"I want to ski at my best level and get into the top five. It's not easy at all, but I prefer that to finishing in 20th place," he had told the
Argentina Amateur
site before traveling.
He was one place away - already just 0s10 - from the position he was aiming for, but he still celebrated historic results for Argentine winter sports.
A result that was not surprising because Nicolás grew up on a pair of skis and is currently one of the best under 18s in the world.
Quintero began skiing in his native
San Martín de los Andes
when he was just three years old, infected by the passion his father felt for the sport.
He started competing in the children's categories at seven and became hooked.
And in 2017 he had his first experience of it at an international event in Andorra.
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"There I began to like it more and more, more than anything because the good results began to appear and I liked the routine of getting up early to go skiing. Waking up to go to school was not the same as waking up to go to the hill," he said. .
Last year, he joined the senior team's concentrations and had the chance to travel and compete abroad.
In the 2023 season of the southern hemisphere, he became the Argentine under 18 Giant Slalom champion and the Argentine junior Slalom runner-up.
He finished in the top 30 (29th) at the 2023
FIS Junior Alpine Ski World Cup
in Austria.
And he was seventh in the Overall of the
Copa Sudamericana Circuit
, in which he finished as the best athlete in the region under 18 years of age.
Thanks to those good performances, the
Argentine Olympic Committee
(COA) and the
Argentine Ski and Mountaineering Federation
(FASA) chose him to carry the national flag at the opening party of the Gangwon Games.
"It is a small extra achievement that makes me very happy and fills me with pride. I am very grateful and happy that Tizi (
Gravier, flag bearer in the last edition
), who is my teammate and my friend, passed it on to me," he commented. , who paraded at the inauguration wearing a light blue and white poncho.
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Quintero -who will play the Combined this Monday;
the Giant Slalom, on Tuesday;
and in the Slalom, on Wednesday - he was not the only Argentine who had his debut at the Jeongseon ski center.
In the women's Super G,
Jazmín Fernández
from Rio Negro finished 12th and
Milla Anwandter
from Chubut finished 39th.
They will also compete in the other alpine skiing events in the coming days.
The Argentine delegation is completed by
Justo Estévez
, Ma
ira Fernández Righi
and
Paloma Angelino
, representatives in cross-country skiing (will start on Monday the 29th), and
Santiago Magni
, in freestyle skiing (will compete from this Tuesday).
Magni was one of six athletes selected from the
“PyeongChang 2018 Legacy Foundation”
program to carry the Olympic flag at the opening.
Argentina has a perfect presence in the winter youth Olympic events.
At
Innsbruck 2012
, the first edition, he participated with five athletes in three sports.
To
Lillehammer 2016
, he brought a delegation of nine athletes for seven disciplines.
And in
Lasuanne 2020
he was present with a record of 16 names for four sports.
He has not yet managed to inaugurate his medal table.