You can't even blink in the time between third place and fifth place in Friday's men's Olympic super-G, but for Erik Guay it was all the time in the world.
For the second speed event in a row Guay found himself just short of a medal, both times making a small mistake near the top of the course then spending the rest of his run trying to make up for it.
In the super-G he finished with a time of 1:30.67, just one one-hundredth of a second back of the fourth place finisher and three one-hundredths back of the bronze medal earned by Andrew Weibrecht of the U.S.
Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal won the gold medal with a time of 1:30.34. Svindal, who won the silver medal in the downhill, finished .28 seconds ahead of American Bode Miller. Miller, who also earned his second medal of these Games, was just .06 seconds ahead of Guay.
Guay has not been on the podium in two seasons now, but has more than 20 top 10 finishes.
"There are parts of the course I'm happy with. I charged hard after that mistake up top and I was able to ski at least as good as Aksel and maybe even a little better in some areas. So it was within my grasp," said Guay. "It was right there for me to take. I just made that one mistake up top, so it was totally on me.
"To be a couple hundredths from third and six hundredths from second is tough to swallow, and I know that little mistake up top cost me three-tenths."
In the downhill he was also fifth, just 0.24 seconds back of the podium.
Guay is at a loss to explain how he's come so close so many times in recent years and has fallen just short.
"I'm tired of it," he said. "Maybe there is something I have to change in there, something I need to unlock to let it go to get a victory or podium finishes. I don't know what it is exactly but I'm over it, I'm over getting those fourths and fifths."
Guay said the conditions did deteriorate over the course of the day and the course was at its best for Weibrecht and Miller. However, he did not make any excuses as he started one spot back of Svindal.
As for the difficultly of the course - some 18 skiers skied off-course or did not finish, including Whistler's Manuel Osborne-Paradis and Robbie Dixon - Guay approved.
"It's the hardest super-G on the World Cup, and I think that's what they need to do - the best guy wins on the hardest course," he said. "Some of the time you see an easy course in the Olympics to make it fair for other people, but that's baloney, they need to do it like this. They did a great job on the downhill, they did a great job on the super-G."
Osborne-Paradis was disappointed at the finish, but was determined to learn every lesson from his performance.
"Guys like (Michael) Walchhofer and Benny (Benjamin Raich) have pressure to be in the top three of every race and this is the first race we've gone into where it's actually been a top three for us (or nothing) - and it wasn't even a top three, it was gold," said Osborne-Paradis.
"I think we definitely could have done it. The odds are pretty low in downhill and super-G right now with how the ranking system works, but I think it's good because if you want to be one of the best you have to have that pressure on you that you need to be top three every race.
"That will come. Erik (Guay) is the veteran on the team and on the Swiss team he would be the young guy. We're really making it up as we go out there, and we take what we can out of every race."
Osborne-Paradis said he didn't mind the pressure of expectation.
"I like when people pay attention to what we do, because we work really hard, we train hard in the gym, we spend eight months a year away from our friends and family to do what we love to do," he said. "It's good when people are expecting our goals to come true."
Whistler's Robbie Dixon, who didn't finish either the downhill or the super-G, also hoped to move past his Olympic experience. He came away more determined than ever to win.
"I've learned that there are only three positions in ski racing that count, first, second and third," he said. "There are a lot of great skiers and to be on a podium is pretty special.
"I can't put all my career on these results. It's a learning experience. I'm learning from everything I do."
Dixon said it has been hard coming back from a concussion he sustained in December after slipping in his ski boots and hitting his head on a door. He missed three World Cup races. Before the Olympics he had finished in the top 10 of every downhill and super-G event. He said he was definitely feeling rusty.
"I don't really feel like I've lost anything and I'm really confident in my skiing, but a little time off the hill didn't help me much - I would have liked to race at Kitzbuehel and Wengen because they're both tough hills that I think I can do well on."
The super-G course softened up over the course of the day, which favoured the early starters for the most part. Weibrecht and Miller started third and 11 th respectively. Only one skier outside of the top 15 finishers started any later than 22 nd .
The Canadian team was also happy for Weibrecht, who has never earned a World Cup medal, let alone an Olympic medal.
"The run was ragged," Weibrecht said. "Over the Fallaway turn I got shot out (of bounds) and almost missed a gate there, but I just kept charging, kept going and tried to build speed the whole way. You never really know in super-G how fast you're going until you hit the bottom."
