Meillard Claims Olympic Slalom Gold

Mother Nature made her presence known during the men's slalom event in Bormio on Monday. By the time the blizzard subsided and the snow powder settled, Loic Meillard of Switzerland emerged as the Olympic gold medalist, clocking in at 1:53.61.

Meillard won by 0.35 seconds from Austria's Fabio Gstrein who took silver, with Norway's Henrik Kristoffersen earning the bronze medal. For Meillard, the reigning world champion, it represents a third medal in Bormio after silver in the team combined and bronze in the giant slalom — a complete medal set and a performance that establishes him as one of the stars of these Games.

But the real story was written not in Meillard's triumph, but in the dramatic collapse of the man who had controlled the race for hours.

The first-run leader Atle Lie McGrath crashed out in the final and walked off the course in frustration, lying down in the snow. McGrath was first out of the start hut in snowy conditions and timed 56.14 seconds, a time that was not bettered as racers struggled with visibility on a deteriorating Stelvio course. He had dominated the opening run with bib number one, carving through the blizzard with the kind of authority that suggested the gold was his to lose.

But it was heartbreak and frustration for McGrath as his second run came to an end early on after straddling a gate, missing out and recording a DNF to secure Meillard’s position as the new Olympic champion. The images will haunt him: McGrath lying in the snow beside the forest, the World Cup slalom leader unable to convert Olympic dominance into the medal that mattered most. McGrath is racing at these Olympics with a heavy heart. His grandfather died on the day of the opening ceremony. He's wearing an armband as a tribute. The weight of grief, expectation, and Olympic pressure proved too much to carry down the mountain a second time.

The opening run had been brutal. Of the 95 racers who started in the morning, only 46 were classified. The dropout rate of over 50 percent meant that Richardson Viano from Haiti finished 30th despite being 8 seconds behind.

As the snow continued to fall, the DNFs continued to follow in the pack chasing for progression to the second run. But there was a cause to show appreciation though for AJ Ginnis (GRE/Van Deer) who brought his elite career to a close on his own terms. It was an emotional farewell for an individual who has given so much, saying afterwards: “This is the end. This is my career. It's a long one. It's had its ups and downs. Crazy highlights, crazy lows. It's just great to be able to celebrate it here with friends and family. I'm a kid who grew up in Athens, Greece. I spent 16 years in Greece and grew up 200 yards from the ocean. To be able to stand here today – everything ski racing has given me in life, a college degree, security and, most importantly, friends who will stay with me forever. If you could have told that to a 10-year-old AJ and his parents, they would have never believed it."

Among the casualties was the man who had made history just two days earlier. Brazilian ski racer Lucas Pinheiro Braathen was cruising along with a fast time when his ski went out from under him. He slid down the mountain before getting back up. His Olympics ended with a DNF. "Of course I'm conflicted. Oh man, this sport," Pinheiro Braathen said. "It brings you up to the sky and it just slams you back into reality equally as fast."

The giant slalom champion, South America's first Winter Olympic gold medalist, left Bormio with both the highest high and the lowest low of his career compressed into 72 hours.

Among those eliminated were the Austrian Kitzbühel slalom winner Manuel Feller, the two-time slalom season winner Paco Rassat from France and also the strong Finn Eduard Hallberg. The Olympic slalom had become a survival contest as much as a race.

With those DNFs in the first, it meant there was an array of nations represented in race two, the likes of Haiti, Chile and Luxembourg all getting their moments. 

It wasn’t the case for Clement Noel though, the reigning Olympic champion unable to complete his second run in the pursuit of defending his title. It left just seven to go, all looking to shift Tanguy Nef (SUI/Atomic) from the top spot after a 57.17 second run. Multiple-time Crystal Globe winner Kristoffersen was the first to do so by 0.89s, Marchant coming in after him but 0.87s back. It left Haugan, Gstrein, Meillard and McGrath to determine how the podium would look.

Haugan dropped into temporary second at 0.29 behind his teammate, but Gstrein secured himself a medal spot with a brilliant run, holding a 0.78s advantage. Slalom World champion Meillard was the penultimate runner, confirming a third medal of these Games as he shifted into the leading position ahead of just McGrath to come.

For Austria's Fabio Gstrein, the silver medal represents the crowning achievement of a breakout season. Gstrein was third after the first run at 0.94 seconds behind McGrath. He held his nerve in the second run, posting a time good enough to claim Austria's first individual Alpine skiing medal of these Games.

Gstrein had entered the season without a single World Cup podium to his name. He will leave Bormio as an Olympic silver medalist — a transformation that speaks to both his talent and the volatility of a discipline where anything can happen between the start gate and the finish line. “The feelings are great” Gstrein told the media. “It’s really nice that I made a medal! I was in the start gate and in my head, you have to go green light over the finish line and there is a medal for you in there. It was a really nice feeling when I saw the light coming up, and it was worth it.”

Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway collected the second Olympic medal of his career, this one a bronze. For the four-time World Cup slalom champion, it represents redemption after years of near-misses and frustration on the Olympic stage. Kristoffersen has been one of the most consistent slalom racers of the past decade, but Olympic glory has always eluded him. The bronze may not be the gold he craves, but it is tangible proof that he can deliver when the world is watching.

For Meillard, the victory cements his place among the elite. Three medals in one Olympics, including gold in the sport's most technically demanding discipline, is a performance worthy of celebration. For McGrath, the recovery begins now — the painful process of replaying what went wrong, of processing the devastation, of deciding whether to return in four years or let this be the defining image of his Olympic career: lying in the snow, alone, beside the forest, as his golden dream slipped away.