The Swiss slalomers narrowly missed the podium in the Beijing Olympics slalom, won by Frenchman Clément Noël. Loïc Meillard and Daniel Yule finished 5th and 6th, failing respectively 0”10 and 0”16 from the podium.
The disappointment is especially great for Loïc Meillard, 4th in the first heat at 0”30 behind the provisional leader and future silver medalist Johannes Strolz. “I made a few small mistakes on the second course“, he regretted at the microphone of the RTS.
“It’s the 3rd time I’ve finished 4th or 5th in a big event.“, recalled Loïc Meillard, who was ranked 4th in the giant of the 2019 Worlds and 5th in the giant of the 2015 Worlds. “But that’s sports. We must continue to work. We know that the level is so high that we cannot afford to be at 80%”he concluded.
Christmas takes his “revenge”
Deprived of a podium for 0”04 four years earlier in PyeongChang, Clément Noël won the first title of his career at the age of 24. Sixth in the first heat, the Frenchman proved irresistible on the second track to win with a margin of 0”61 over Johannes Strolz. Bronze goes to Norwegian Sebastian Foss-Solevaag.
Too shy in the final wall of a first round completed in 13th place, Daniel Yule, meanwhile, pulled out all the stops on the second course (2nd time, behind Clément Noël). But that turned out to be insufficient for the Valaisan. “It hurts my stomach a little“, he underlined. Only 19th at the end of the 1st course, Luca Aerni also reacted well on the 2nd course. The Valaisan gained five places to finish 14th. Conversely, the Olympic vice-champion 2018 Ramon Zenhäusern fell from 11th to 12th place.
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