Loic Meillard Wins Slalom Gold at the Milano-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14DrnW1sTBo

In a brutal and thrilling second run, Loic Meillard won the gold medal in the Men's Slalom at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games. It's the third Olympic medal for the 29-year-old Swiss skier at the Milano-Cortina 2026 Games, after earning silver in the Team Combined and bronze in the Giant Slalom.

Meillard won the Slalom Olympic title just one year after winning the World Championship title in Saalbach.

He became the first Swiss skier to win an Olympic slalom event since Edy Reinalter's victory in St. Moritz in 1948. Since then, Swiss skiers have only earned two additional Olympic medals: Jacques Lüthy won bronze in Lake Placid in 1980, and Ramon Zenhäusern claimed silver in PyeongChang in 2018.

“It's amazing. It's been long days, a lot of expectations about what you want to achieve, and a lot of pressure on yourself. So to make it again, I would say after last year's World Championships, leave with all the medals, with a world title in slalom and an Olympic title this year, it's crazy," Meillard said.

Fabio Gstrein finished in second place, giving Austria Men's Team its first individual medal. The 28-year-old, in his Olympic debut in an individual event, demonstrated nerves of steel after taking third place in the first run behind Loic Meillard and Atle Lie McGrath.

"The feelings are great. 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," Gstrein said.

Henrik Kristoffersen finished in third position and claimed his third Olympic medal in his fourth Olympic Games. In sixth place after the first run, he launched a full attack and put himself in medal position with the third-fastest second-run time.

"I didn't feel good the whole run, to be honest. But to get a bronze medal on a bad day is not a bad day," Kristoffersen said.

"A little bittersweet with Atle skiing out in the second run, but that's our sport. I've been there. I was there eight years ago in PyeongChang 2018. I led after the first run, and I skied out. That's part of the game," he added.

Atle Lie McGrath, who led after the first run, straddled one of the gates in the first section and failed to finish the second run, dramatically losing his chance to become the Slalom Olympic Champion.