Loic Meillard from Team Switzerland celebrates at the finish during run 2 in the Men’s Slalom in alpine skiing at the Stelvio Ski Center during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games. Michael Kappeler/dpa

Switzerland’s Loic Meillard added Olympic slalom gold to his world title from last year on Monday and completed a full medal set at the Milan/Cortina Games with it.

Meillard won from second place after Norwegian first run leader Atle Lie McGrath straddled a gate early in the second run.

McGrath threw away his poles, took off his skis and walked to a wooded area on the edge of the piste where he fell to the ground in bitter disappointment over his race and apparent ongoing grief over the death of his grandfather on the night of the opening ceremony.

Meillard could meanwhile celebrate as he added gold to team combined silver and giant slalom bronze. He won .35 of a second ahead of Austrian Fabio Gstrein and Norwegian veteran Henrik Kristoffersen got bronze as in 2014, 1.13 seconds beind the winner.

“It’s amazing. It’s been long days, a lot of expectations about what you want to achieve, a lot of pressure on yourself,” Meillard said.

“So to make it again, I would say after last year, world champs, leave with all the medals, with a world title in slalom and an Olympic title this year, it’s crazy.”

Looking at the fate of slalom World Cup leader McGrath, he added: “Atle Lie would’ve deserved it as well, he was the best skier this season, but that’s part of slalom, that’s part of sport.”

Meillard’s success meant that Switzerland won four of the five men’s races at the Games, with Franjo von Allmen responsible for the others in downhill, super-g and the team combined together with Tanguy Nef.

The other winner was Brazil’s Lucas Pinheiro Braathen in the giant slalom.

Pinheiro Braathen was among the casualties in difficult conditions on Monday, falling in the first run of a race where only 44 of 95 starters reached the second run and 38 eventually finished.

“Of course I’m conflicted. Oh man, this sport. It brings you up to the sky and it just slams you back into reality equally as fast. That’s exactly what makes it the art it is,” he said.

“I put myself out there when I was able to bring home the gold and that’s exactly what I did today as well.”

He was in good company as French twice season winner Paco Rassat, last month’s Kitzbühel winner Manuel Feller of Austria, Italy’s Alex Vinatzer and Finnish talent Eduard Hallberg did also not reach the finish line of the first run.

Frenchman Clement Noel straddled a gate in the second run which means that no man has ever managed to win back-to-back Olympic slalom golds.

Retirement bound veteran Dave Ryding, the first ever Briton to win a World Cup race 2022 in Kitzbühel, was 17th.

Former world championship silver medallist AJ Ginnis of Greece was unable to ski competitive due to injury but lined up for a ceremonial run in what was his last career race.

“Being able to end it, kicking out of the gate to become an Olympian, something I’ve never done before, is something magical,” he said.

The Olympic alpine ski races end on Wednesday with the women’s slalom in Cortina d’Ampezzo.

​https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/meillard-gets-slalom-gold-mcgrath-144328574.html