BORMIO, Italy — The razor edge between joy and despair in Olympic sport was laid bare as Loic Meillard won Switzerland’s first men’s slalom gold since 1948, while Atle Lie McGrath was inconsolable after stumbling out of the race and into the forest – literally – on Monday.
Norway’s McGrath, hoping to deliver gold in honor of his grandfather who died on the day of the opening ceremony, held a commanding 0.59-second lead from a first leg held in driving snow.
Meillard, second-fastest in the opening run, then put down a stunning second effort to crank up the pressure on McGrath, the last of the top 30 to go down.
With gold in sight, McGrath straddled a gate early in his run to blow his chance and leave the Swiss team celebrating a fourth gold medal from the five men’s Alpine skiing events in Bormio.
It was all too much for the heartbroken McGrath, who had spoken lovingly about how his grandfather Svein Lie, who died at the age of 83, had been his inspiration to follow a sporting path.
Several minutes later, still stewing, he was escorted back down to the finish area in a police Ski-Doo, storming off without talking, although he admirably faced the media back at the team hotel in Bormio.
“It was a mix of shock and just everything in between, it was like a surreal feeling, I haven’t really experienced anything like it before,” McGrath told reporters.
While attention was focused on the U.S.-born McGrath, Meillard’s performance cannot be overlooked. His second run was sensational as he won by 0.35 seconds over Austria’s Fabio Gstrein.
McGrath’s vastly experienced teammate Henrik Kristoffersen was 1.13 seconds back in bronze, a repeat of his result in Sochi in 2014.
“I had to give it all and try my best. And when I saw some green, I was like, amazing. A third medal, third race. You never know if it’s going to be gold or not,” Meillard said. “Atle 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, the first Swiss man to win the slalom since Edy Reinalter in the 1948 Winter Olympics – when the slalom was first raced – will return home with a complete set of medals. He won the silver in the team combined and the bronze in the super-G. He is also the reigning world champion in the twisty discipline.
HEAVY WEATHER TAKES ITS TOLL
Norway’s Timon Haugan finished in the dreaded fourth place, although his frustration bore no comparison with that of McGrath.
“I can only imagine how sad it must be. He is doing everything perfect. He did a very good first run, put himself in a position to win the Olympic gold. He does everything right and then that happens in 15 seconds. It’s just heartbreaking,” Haugan told reporters.
The last event of the men’s Alpine skiing program began in terrible weather conditions with heavy snow making visibility difficult on a course that had been described as “easy” in the build-up.
It proved anything but, however, as only 44 of the bloated 96-man start list managed to complete the first run. Among those unable to finish the first run was River Radamus, the lone American competing in the event.
The biggest casualty was Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, as the Norway-born Brazilian’s hopes of a golden double after his historic giant slalom victory ended with him sliding out.
“Oh man. This sport. It brings you up to the sky and it just slams you back into reality equally as fast,” he said.
Those words proved prophetic an hour or so later as his former teammate and close friend McGrath sustained a crushing disappointment.
–Reuters, special to Field Level Media
