PYEONGCHANG, South Korea (Reuters) - A burning desire to leave Pyeongchang with an Olympic medal led to Luca de Aliprandini spectacularly crashing out at the end of his giant slalom run on Sunday but the Italian said he had no regrets for pushing so hard.
Using a ski pole as a crutch to support the left leg he injured when he barrelled into the safety netting at the Yongpyong Alpine Centre, the 27-year-old said he did not think it was serious but he was nonetheless crestfallen.
"I wanted to go home with something and you have to push like this if you want to do something," he said after he left empty-handed for his second successive Winter Games.
"It's so sad but I go home without regrets and I hope everything is okay."
Desperate to catch leader Austrian Marcel Hirscher, de Aliprandini made a desperate push at the end of his run on the icy course, which backfired when he ended up sliding out.
"I felt really good at the top but in the middle part I didn't feel so incredible so I tried to give a little bit more (at the finish), but it didn't pay off," he said.
(Editing by Greg Stutchbury)
