02/16/26 08:10:00
Printable Page
02/16 08:08 CST Loic Meillard of Switzerland wins slalom to close out men's
Alpine program at Milan Cortina Games
Loic Meillard of Switzerland wins slalom to close out men's Alpine program at
Milan Cortina Games
By PAT GRAHAM
AP Sports Writer
BORMIO, Italy (AP) --- Loic Meillard of Switzerland used a strong second run to
win the men's slalom Monday on a day that saw Brazilian ski racer Lucas
Pinheiro Braathen fall in the first run, ending his bid for another Olympic
gold.
The event closes out the men's Alpine program at the Milan Cortina Games.
Meillard adds gold to a silver he won in the team combined and bronze from the
giant slalom.
Meillard finished in a two-run combined time of 1 minute, 53.61 seconds. He
edged Fabio Gstrein of Austria by 0.35 seconds, while Henrik Kristoffersen of
Norway took bronze. It was quite a contrast of runs, too, with snow and fog in
the morning and the sun peeking out for the afternoon.
Norway's Atle Lie McGrath, the first-run leader, straddled a gate and was out.
He was so irate that he threw his ski poles over the netting on one side. He
then went outside the netting on the other side, trudging along the snow. He
sat down and then fell back, breathing heavily.
McGrath has been racing with a heavy heart, with his grandfather dying the day
of the opening ceremony. McGrath wore an armband as a tribute.
Pinheiro Braathen made history by winning the giant slalom Saturday, becoming
the first athlete from South America to win a medal at a Winter Olympics. But
his ski slipped out on a fast first run and his bid for another medal was over.
Pinheiro Braathen represented Norway before switching to Brazil, his mom's home
country.
Switzerland led the men's Alpine skiing medal table in Bormio with eight (four
gold, two silver and two bronze). Austria (two silvers) and Italy (silver,
bronze) each had two, while Brazil (gold), U.S. (silver) and Norway (bronze)
brought home one apiece.
The heavy snow led to a tricky morning of racing. The competition featured 96
racers in the field, with many representing nontraditional ski nations. Of the
96 racers, there were 49 who didn't finish the course, two who were
disqualified and another who didn't start.
It was a ceremonial slalom run for AJ Ginnis of Greece. He said an ankle
surgery didn't heal properly and he couldn't compete the way he wanted to. This
was his farewell run.
"To be able to stand here today and just everything ski racing has given me in
life, a college degree, security, and most importantly friends and people that
will stay with me forever, it's just something that you could have told that to
a 10-year-old AJ and his parents and they would have never believed it," Ginnis
said.
Among the skiers in the field were Henri Rivers IV of Jamaica; Faiz Basha of
Singapore and Lasse Gaxiola of Mexico. Gaxiola's mom, Sarah Schleper, competed
in the super-G and giant slalom in Cortina.
___
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
|
