World champ Loic Meillard victorious for 2nd straight day, closes in on season slalom title

The Associated Press

· Posted: Mar 16, 2025 11:28 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 minutes ago

World champion Loic Meillard won the season's penultimate men's World Cup slalom Sunday arsenic the Swiss skier boosted his chances of taking the subject title.

Meillard overcame a large mistake aboriginal successful his last tally and held connected to his first-leg pb arsenic helium bushed Atle Lie McGrath of Norway by 0.21 seconds. Lucas Pinheiro Braathen was 0.47 backmost successful third.

"It was a chaotic 2nd tally with a fewer mistakes. I conscionable wanted to afloat attack, possibly adjacent excessively much," said Meillard, who besides won Saturday's elephantine slalom connected the aforesaid elevation successful Hafjell, Norway. "It's a imagination for a tech skier to triumph some days, GS and slalom, and for it to hap this play is beauteous amazing."

Meillard's sole erstwhile vocation World Cup triumph successful slalom came successful Aspen, Colo., a twelvemonth ago, though helium took golden astatine the worlds successful Austria successful February.

Calgary's Erik Read and Montreal's Simon Fournier were among 18 athletes to not decorativeness the archetypal run.

Henrik Kristoffersen, who leads the discpline standings, won some the GS and the slalom astatine the erstwhile tech play successful Slovenia 2 weeks ago.

On Sunday, the Norwegian placed 5th and saw his vantage implicit Meillard reduced to 47 points with lone the season-ending contention remaining astatine the World Cup finals successful Sun Valley, Idaho connected March 27.

WATCH | Meillard takes men's World Cup slalom successful Norway:

Kristoffersen volition unafraid the rubric if helium finishes 3rd oregon amended successful that race, careless of Meillard's result.

"It's inactive a large gap," Meillard said. "So, helium has to neglect it a small spot and I person to bash thing precise peculiar similar today. So, it's truly a bully combat until the end."

The lone different racer near with a accidental to triumph the play rubric is Clement Noel. The Olympic champion from France finished seventh and trails Kristoffersen by 86 points. A contention triumph is worthy 100 points.

Kristoffersen has won the slalom rubric 3 times successful his career, astir precocious successful 2022, but it would beryllium the archetypal vocation slalom globe for either Meillard oregon Noel.

WATCH | Full replay sum of Sunday's 2nd slalom run:

Last year's slalom champion, Manuel Feller, skied retired successful the archetypal run, but the Austrian was already retired of contention for the play rubric earlier the race.

Racing connected a elevation wherever helium skied galore times successful his youth, Pinheiro Braathen earned his 5th podium effect since taking a twelvemonth disconnected and returning to the circuit this play pursuing a power from the Norwegian to the Brazilian federation.

"I had truthful galore grooming runs here, truthful galore of my fundamentals travel from here, Hafjell," said Pinheiro Braathen, who is chasing Brazil's first-ever triumph successful a top-level skis race.

Hafjell hosted World Cup races for the archetypal clip since 2003.

Swiss prima Marco Odermatt, who locked up the wide and elephantine slalom titles connected Saturday, does not vie successful slaloms.

The contention wrapped up the regular World Cup play up of the finals for some men and women successful Sun Valley, Idaho, which unfastened with the velocity events adjacent weekend.

WATCH | Meillard captures giant slalom connected Saturday: