Switzerland’s men have dominated the ski slopes of Milano Cortina. Not since the super-G and the team combined were added to the Olympic programme in 1988 has one country won four of the five events – a feat achieved with Loïc Meillard’s victory in the slalom on Monday. Only Brazil managed to stop them in these Games.
Franjo von Allmen has been their undisputed star, heading home with three golds in his hand luggage. After winning the downhill on the opening weekend, he was given a helping hand by Tanguy Nef’s scintillating slalom run as they won the team combined. Nef deserved an individual medal of his own and sat in the leader’s chair for a while on Monday until tumbling out of the podium places all together.
After Von Allmen shrugged his way to the super-G title, Lucas Pinheiro Braathen made South American history to deny the defending champion, Marco Odermatt, in the giant slalom. It was the only gold that slipped through Swiss fingers – they consoled themselves with silver and bronze.
“We’re living in a bit of a golden era in Switzerland in skiing,” Meillard said. “It’s crazy what’s been happening in the last few years, and so everyone has to enjoy it as much as possible. We are still pretty young, the whole team, but at the end it works well.”
The slalom did not lack for drama. The morning run was dogged by heavy snow and poor visibility in Bormio, with Pinheiro Braathen and the home favourite Alex Vinatzer among 44 of the 96-strong field not to reach the bottom of the course. Atle Lie McGrath, whose Norwegian mother was a cross-country skier and American father a World Cup racer, set the pace and would have to wait to go last on the second run.
Lie McGrath, who leads the World Cup standings this season, was told the news of his grandfather’s death on the night of the opening ceremony. When the 25-year-old straddled a gate early in his second run and his hopes of a medal disappeared, the emotions came out. He launched his skis over a fence and trudged across the mountainside towards some woodland, where he lay flat on his back and stared at the sky.
Only yards from where Lie McGrath’s run came to an end, a Swiss coach was punching the air. Meillard, second after the first run and 0.35sec faster than Austria’s Fabio Gstrein on the second, added gold to silver in the team combined and bronze in the giant slalom. A full set. “Atle would’ve deserved it as well,” Meillard said.
The Swiss stranglehold on these Games is not exactly a surprise but the numbers are historic. Their tally of eight medals out of 15 available matches the record set by Austria in 1998 and 2006. By contrast, Austria won only two silvers at these Games.
“Maybe in a few years, another country like Austria can be back on top and have young people coming as well, pushing us,” Meillard said. “They’re faster than us at the moment,” was Gstrein’s reply. “When someone’s beating me, it’s not too bad if it’s Loïc.”
As it stands
The Netherlands move up to third after Xandra Velzeboer’s victory in the women’s 1,000m short track speed skating.
1 🇳🇴 Norway 🥇 12 🥈 7 🥉 9 – Total: 28
2 🇮🇹 Italy 🥇 8 🥈 4 🥉 11 – Total: 23
3 🇺🇸 United States 🥇 6 🥈 8 🥉 5 – Total: 19
4 🇳🇱 Netherlands 🥇 6 🥈 5 🥉 1 – Total: 12
5 🇦🇹 Austria 🥇 5 🥈 7 🥉 3 – Total: 15
– – –
11 🇦🇺 Australia 🥇 3 🥈 1 🥉 1 – Total: 5
12 🇬🇧 Great Britain 🥇 3 🥈 0 🥉 0 – Total: 3
Picture of the day
Further reading from the Guardian
Muir fourth again after agonising tumble as Oldham wins big air gold for Canada
USA’s Elana Meyers Taylor storms monobob to win first Olympic gold at age 41
Slalom heartbreak sparks McGrath’s trudge to the woods as Ryding bids farewell
How British skeleton left the world in its tracks with golden haul
Ilia Malinin writes about ‘inevitable crash’ after figure skating shock
Italian biathlete returns to squad after blaming doping positive on Nutella
What to look out for today
Times are all in local time in Milan and Cortina. For Sydney it is +10 hours, for London it is -1 hour, for New York it is -6 hours and San Francisco it is -9 hours.
Curling – 9.05am, 2.05pm, 7.05pm: Watch out for Sweden v Norway in the evening session of the men’s round robin. GB face Canada.
Ice hockey – 12.10pm, 4.40pm, 9.10pm: The men’s knockout stage begins with the hosts, Italy, facing Switzerland in the early session.
Snowboard – 1pm🏅: The final of the women’s slopestyle. New Zealand’s Zoi Sadowski-Synnott topped qualification.
Nordic combined – 10am, 1.45pm: Athletes compete in ski jumping and cross-country skiing in the only Olympic sport without a women’s category.
Biathlon – 2.30pm🏅: Norway are aiming to defend their men’s 4x7.5km relay title from 2022.
Speed skating – 4.28pm🏅, 4.47pm🏅: The final of the men’s team pursuit precedes the final of the women’s event.
Figure skating – 6.45pm: The short programme of the women’s single skating category.
Bobsleigh – 7pm, 9.05pm🏅: Germany hold the top three places ahead of the final two runs of the two-man category.
Freestyle skiing – 7.30pm🏅: Defending champion Ruud Birk of Norway was only third in the qualification standings.
The last word
For us, this is real life. The movie is somewhat fiction, but this is real, real life. We are the real team – Jamaica’s Chris Pitter, who is a fisherman by trade, on the association with Cool Runnings. He and his brakeman Junior Harris finished above four teams in the opening heats of the two-man bobsleigh. Pitter revealed that Snoop Dogg had been spending time with the Jamaican team: “Junior cooked for Snoop Dogg and Snoop loved his cooking. He ate the jerk chicken straight down to the bone.”
Hit reply or email OlympicBriefing@theguardian.com to get in touch.
