Austria's Benjamin Raich won his first Olympic gold medal on Monday in the men's giant slalom at the Turin Winter Olympics.

Raich, the silver medallist in the 2005 World Championship at Bormio, Italy, was only fifth after the first leg and 0.34 seconds behind leader Francois Bourque of Canada.

But he advanced onto the top of the podium with a tremendous second effort, finishing the two runs with a total of 2 minutes and 35.00 seconds.

"I have big stones rolling off my heart. This was a goal I have long envisioned," said Raich, "It's a great day. It was very hard for me, especially to fight in the second leg."

After knowing his victory, Raich lied on the snow to cheer his gold medal.

"I don't know exactly why I rolled in the snow. The medal is something special that comes every four years," Raich told the news conference after the match, "I can only say I am very happy. At the point of victory, I think about all the people who have made this possible."

It was the 27-year-old Raich's first Olympic title and also a compensation for his failure in the combined event last Tuesday.

After leading in the super-G, he skied out of the slalom in the second leg and finished only 21st.

Raich, the reigning World Cup champion, finished all 38 races last season he entered and has had eight career World Cup giant slalom wins.

"I knew I had a good run. I gave everything, I just needed luck. You need luck and patient then everything comes back to you."

The excellence also came from Joel Chenal of France who ranked only 17th in the World Cup standings. He placed second after the first run and maintained his advantage to the last to win the silver at 2:35.07.

Another Austrian Hermann Maier, the silver medallist in the super-G, was third at 2:35.16.

"I'm surprised to have done a good first run because I always do good second runs. I had nothing to lose, I really wanted to find the victory."

"It's a great day for me, second place is perfect. I can't expect any more from the Olympic Games," said Chenal.

Bourque, who clocked the fastest time in the first leg, dropped to fourth, 0.92 behind, after a much less attacking second run.

"I feel a little disappointed. I felt nervous and I made some mistakes in the second run. I could get the podium and now I'm fourth. It is life," said Bourque.

Source: Xinhua