Loïc Meillard is competing for the title in the World Championship slalom in Saalbach. After the first run, the Frenchman is in second place behind Frenchman Clément Noël.
16.02.2025, 10:44
16.02.2025, 10:46
SDA
Noël and Meillard, who is 19 hundredths behind the Olympic champion, were able to pull away from the competition. The Norwegians Atle Lie McGrath and Timon Haugan and the German Linus Strasser were the next best skiers, losing between 64 and 77 hundredths of a second on the best time.
Noël has already won 14 World Cup slaloms, four this winter alone. However, the Frenchman has yet to win a World Championship medal. Meillard has already finished second and third twice in this discipline this season and the man from Neuchâtel, who lives in Valais, already has five World Championship medals to his name. In recent days, he has added to his collection with gold in the team combined, in which he won alongside Franjo von Allmen, and bronze in the giant slalom.
Silvan Zurbriggen was the last Swiss skier to secure a medal in a World Championship slalom 22 years ago. The Valais native took silver in St. Moritz as a complete surprise. To find the last Swiss world champion, you have to go back a lot further in the statistics. Georges Schneider from Neuchâtel won the title in Aspen, Colorado, in 1950.
Tanguy Nef is the second-best Swiss in 7th place. He is 85 hundredths behind McGrath in 3rd place. Daniel Yule was just under three tenths slower than the man from Geneva. Marc Rochat takes a time handicap of 2.4 seconds into the decision.
