VIDEO. Huge disappointment for Clément Noël and the French in slalom, Swiss Loïc Meillard Olympic champion in the discipline

Clément Noël, current Olympic slalom champion, crashed out in the second run while Loïc Meillard claimed his first gold medal at the Olympics.

Published on 16/02/2026 at 14:50
Updated on 16/02/2026 at 14:59

Reading time: 3min

In just ten seconds, hope vanished for Clément Noël. Starting second on the podium in the second run, he only lasted a few seconds before making a mistake that cost him his place on the slalom podium at the Milan Cortina Olympics on Monday, February 16. Ultimately, it was Swiss skier Loïc Meillard who succeeded Clément Noël, ahead of Austrian Fabio Gstrein, and Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen completing the podium.

After a first run where only 44 skiers were classified out of 95 starters (49 athletes did not finish and 2 were disqualified), the second run promised to be full of surprises. Clément Noël was not the only one to crack under pressure; Atle Lie McGrath, leading by a wide margin after the first run, also crashed in the second run. This led to a quite improbable sequence where he first threw away his poles before walking alone towards the forest, lying down in the snow far from the track.

Loïc Meillard took advantage of the situation to win, ahead of Austrian Fabio Gstrein who also moved up one spot to finish second. Henrik Kristoffersen climbed three places to secure the bronze, twelve years after Sochi where he had already finished third.

Clément Noël had made a critical error in the first run to finish 7th, almost two seconds behind the Norwegian. In the second run, set by his coach, he started aggressively but crashed in less than 10 seconds. He could have become the first Olympic slalom champion to retain his title and the only skier to win twice in the discipline, something that has never happened in 21 editions.

“It’s been a long time since I made a mistake in an event like I did today. There are questions to ask and analyze. A lot can happen in a one-day race, it can go either way, not just the good way. The Games are over, it wasn’t a good one, but I’m not giving up,” Noël said to France Télévisions after the race.

Three other French skiers were on the course. Steven Amiez, 20th after the first run over 4 seconds behind McGrath, gained two places in the second run despite a major mistake in the middle of the course. Paco Rassat, with two wins this winter, quickly crashed in the first run, in less than 20 seconds. Giant slalom skier Léo Anguenot, starting in slalom for the first time this winter, did not even reach the first split.