BORMIO, Italy – Norway’s Atle Lie McGrath set the fastest time in the first run of the Olympic men’s slalom on Monday, as many of the favorites, including Brazil’s Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, failed to finish.

Driving snow and a challenging course made conditions treacherous for the final men’s Alpine skiing race, but McGrath navigated it smoothly. Benefiting from being the first skier on a 96-man start list, he stopped the clock at 56.14 seconds, showing both precision and composure.

McGrath will carry a 0.59-second advantage over Swiss world champion Loic Meillard into the second leg later. Austria’s Fabio Gstrein was third-fastest, 0.94 seconds behind the leader.

Norway-born Braathen, who won the giant slalom on Saturday to give Brazil and South America their first-ever Winter Olympic medal, started strong but lost control midway and slid out. Several other top contenders also struggled, including France’s Paco Rassat, who straddled a gate, and Austria’s Manuel Feller, who had impressed in the slalom section of the men’s combined.

McGrath is competing just over a week after the passing of his grandfather.

“I really like when I can just go out and set the standard. So that was my goal,” McGrath said. “This is a huge challenge for an Alpine skier. Maybe the biggest there is, but I’m ready.” -Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Ed Osmond/Reuters