MANILA, Philippines – Filipino-American skier Asa Miller crashed to a rough start in his Beijing Winter Olympics campaign after registering a DNF (did not finish) in the men’s giant slalom on Sunday, February 13.

Waiting for almost two hours for his turn at the Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Centre, Miller failed to complete his run no thanks to an early slip during a turn.

It was a disappointing ending for Miller, who finished 70th in the event in the Pyeongchang Games in Korea four years ago.

Frustrated, Miller immediately returned to the Olympic Village with his father Kelly.

“It’s certainly a bummer as the course got skied out,” said Miller’s American coach Will Gregorak. “It’s not good on the upper pitch. I feel bummed for him, but he had an excellent warmup this morning.”

Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt captured gold with a combined time of 2:09:35, just .19 seconds ahead of Slovenia’s Zan Kranjec, who clinched silver with 2:09.54.

Odermatt stamped his class over the competition after topping Run 1 with 1:02.93 and placing second in Run 2 with 1:06.42 en route to his first Olympic gold.

Kranjec finished outside the top five after Run 1, placing eighth with 1:03.71, but snagged silver as he clocked in 1:05.83 to rule Run 2.

Maintaining his position after the first run, France’s Mathieu Faivre pocketed bronze with time of 2:10.69.

The first snowfall of the Winter Olympics proved to be a major stumbling block as a total of 33 skiers recorded a DNF after the opening run, with only 54 of the 89 participants advancing. Two did not start.

Although the men’s giant slalom pushed through as scheduled, Beijing organizers needed to postpone the start of the women’s freeski slopestyle qualifiers at the Genting Snow Park due to steady snowfall.

Meanwhile, the second training for the women’s downhill on Sunday was canceled.

Eyeing to redeem himself, Miller looks to end his Winter Olympics stint on a high note in the men’s slalom on Wednesday, February 16. – Rappler.com