Australian ski cross racer Anton ‘The Beard’ Grimus crashed out in Sochi

FANS held up signs saying “Fear The Beard”. But in the end, the Ned Kelly beard of Aussie ski cross racer Anton Grimus was not to be feared.

Australian ski cross racer Anton Grimus has crashed out in Sochi. Picture: AP

AUSSIE fans held up signs saying “Fear The Beard”. But in the end, the Ned Kelly beard of Australian ski cross racer Anton Grimus was not to be feared.

The Beard veered off the cross and careered into a snowbank, as Grimus crashed out of the ski cross at Rosa Khutor Extreme Park, moments after his teammate Scott Kneller met a similar fate in his heat.

And there you had it. The cruel nature of this kamikaze sport was exposed yet again, just days after four of Australia’s five male and female riders crashed out of the Sochi Winter Olympics boardercross event.

“I got out to a shocking start, then I fought back,” Grimus said.

“At the top I probably went a bit too soon, then down the bottom sort of made my move and then they made their move back. That’s ski cross, really.”

Earlier, the crowd cheered as The Beard appeared in the starting gates. But in the end, all that happened was that The Beard hurt his rear.

“My left glute is a bit sore but apart from that, I’m all in one piece,” Grimus.

Grimus himself might be in one piece, but his beard will be in a million pieces come Saturday, when the 23-year-old Grimus shaves it for the first time in two years.

He’s de-bearding to raise money for the Rob Kneller Youth Foundation, a charitable organisation which supports promising young skiers in the NSW ski town of Jindabyne.

The foundation is named for the late father of Grimus’s teammate Scott Kneller, who died in an industrial accident earlier this year.

Scott Kneller endured a tough road to these Games in many ways, fracturing four bones in his spine in the lead-up to Sochi and only being cleared by the team doctor at the last minute.

“My body needs a rest,” Kneller said . “It’s been a pretty intense couple of months and I could do with a bit of R and R. I’m going to head back to the Uni of NSW and finish my degree and see where things take me. But I’m going to take a break from ski cross.”