Meillard crowns Swiss men's Olympic domination with slalom gold / Photo: © AFP
Meillard crowns Swiss men's Olympic domination with slalom gold
Loic Meillard won the Swiss men's team their fourth Olympic gold in the five alpine skiing events in Bormio when he streaked to victory in the slalom on Monday.
The 29-year-old clocked a winning time of 1min 53.61sec, with Austrian Fabio Gstrein taking silver at 0.35sec and Norway's Henrik Kristoffersen rounding out the podium (+1.13).
Meillard's gold caps an incredible couple of weeks for the Swiss men's team, Franjo von Allmen having won the downhill and super-G titles before then pairing with Tanguy Nef to win the team combined.
Meillard, who had already taken team combined silver with Marco Odermatt and giant slalom bronze in Bormio, was second fastest in the first leg behind Norway's Atle Lie McGrath and laid down the joint fastest second leg for victory.
There was late drama as McGrath bombed out of his second leg, hitting a gate high up the course so hard it knocked him out of his rhythm.
Disgusted, McGrath hurled his poles over the safety netting that lined the Stelvio piste, with nearby Swiss team members embracing each other in celebration.
McGrath then trudged off to the other side of the course, despondent, lying in the snow in angry reflection.
O.al-Khatib--BT
