Meillard seals golden World Championships for Swiss with Slalom triumph

Loic Meillard (SUI/Rossignol) flew to men’s Slalom gold on Sunday, ensuring the 2025 Saalbach FIS Alpine World Ski Championships ended in a style all those watching have become accustomed to.

For the fifth time in 12 days of racing it was the Swiss flag that was raised highest, with red-clad skiers also winning five silver and three bronze medals - the best world championship haul by any nation this century.

Meillard’s rapid, error-free pair of runs mean that Switzerland leave Saalbach having won four of the five men’s events. Only Raphael Haaser’s (AUT/Fischer) shock Giant Slalom victory preventing a clean sweep.

Atle Lie McGrath (NOR/Head) gave everything to stop the red wave, but even his charging second run was not quite enough. The 24-year-old finished 0.26 seconds behind the winner to claim his first major medal, and give a Norwegian team, which has dominated the men’s tech events on the World Cup tour this season, something to take home.

Just behind McGrath came Linus Strasser (Rossignol). The German’s two smooth runs delivering a bronze medal and transforming a season in which he has consistently failed to find his best.

In contrast, Saalbach local Manuel Feller (AUT/Atomic) was left struggling to “find any words” to sum up what he called “the biggest defeat of my career”. After miscalculating the level of risk he needed to put down in the morning run, Feller found himself an agonising 0.27 seconds away from the podium, in fourth.

Clement Noël (FRA/Dynastar) knows just how the Austrian feels. The Frenchman put himself in the perfect position to add world championship gold to his Olympic crown, but after a superb run one gave him a 0.19-second advantage over the field, Noël made a “small mistake with huge consequences” as he skied out with the finish in sight.

‘A crazy way to end a crazy week’

The Swiss team have managed to avoid those pitfalls throughout the fortnight and on a hill which he professes to “love”, Meillard fully justified his status as one of the major pre-race favorites.

“There's only been two races my whole career where I didn't stand on the podium here,” said a delighted Meillard, who not only won the men’s Team Combined earlier in the week, but also has a World Cup win and three second places in Saalbach.

“It’s a hill where you always have to push, you always have to create speed and I like that.”

The 28-year-old may well attempt to pack up the famous Ulli Maier track and take it with him. Especially given that while he has been in form this season, his only two victories have come in Saalbach, this week.

“I always skied, well, a few mistakes, too many sometimes and today, I just tried to push, to go for it,” said the skier who had sat second, 0.19 seconds behind Noël at the half-way stage. “A crazy way to end the week. It's been a crazy week, and to finish it up with a win again. It's perfect.”

Meillard then turned his attention to the performance of the team as a whole.

McGrath finds his killer instinct

Chasing his own life-altering performance, McGrath almost found that his emotions got the better of him.

“It was one of the most nerve-wracking moments of my life that second run,” said McGrath, who was third quickest in the morning. “I just felt so nervous that I was struggling to walk and get into the bindings. It was just really difficult.

“I really didn't fully overcome them. I was still nervous while skiing, which is very rare, but I just stuck to the basics, focused on my thing and tried to be a killer.”

It certainly worked, the Norwegian jumping up into second and sealing his first medal at his second world championships.

“The first medal is a big one. For sure, it would really be a shame if none of us took a medal today after how good we've been in Slalom,” McGrath said, Norwegian skiers having claimed four of the nine World Cup races so far. “So, I'm very happy that I could take a medal for Norway.”

Strasser finds form at right time

The smile on Strasser’s face was just as wide as that covering McGrath’s. Less than two months ago, the German was questioning everything, after starting the World Cup Slalom season with two failures to finish, one failure to qualify for the second run and a seventh place.

But, on the biggest stage of all, he confirmed his recent improvements and claimed the biggest prize of his career to date.

“Alta Badia (where he recorded the second of those DNFs in December) was pretty much my all-time low. I didn't feel good. I had a lot of doubts about my sport and about me and about my performance,” Strasser explained. “But I said at this time that the biggest performance or the biggest achievement is always when you make it out of such a down.

“And so that's what I'm most proud about.”

Like Meillard, Strasser is another who cannot get enough of racing in Austria. Three of his four World Cup Slalom wins have come in the country and now his first major medal.

“Let's just say it's, it's always well organized, a good crowd, and yeah, I like it a lot.”

‘Don’t be too boring’ says Ryding

Defending gold medallist Henrik Kristoffersen (NOR/Van Deer) and 2023/23 World Cup Slalom season champion Lucas Pinheiro Braathen (BRA/Atomic) leave a little less happy. The duo were unable to give a positive glow to underwhelming campaigns. The former having failed to find his best form from the start, while Pinheiro Braathen struggled with debilitating flu.

There were smiles however, for Dave Ryding (GBR/Head). At the age of 38, the Briton took sixth, his best ever finish in a major championship.

“I've not had a green light all season. It's been a tough year. But I kept fighting, the whole team kept believing and you know, when you see the green light, you have to enjoy it,” said the man whose celebrations whipped up the crowd.

‘Austria showed how important ski racing is’

With their 13th piece of silverware secured, there is no doubt who topped the 2025 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships medal table. And while the knowledgeable Saalbach crowd were happy to applaud the efforts of their biggest rivals, the Swiss, the final word on a sunbaked Championships that has seen passionate crowds pack out the stands on a daily basis, goes to one of Austria's all-time favorite skiing sons.

“I’m super happy Austria showed, once again, how important ski racing is in this nation,” Marcel Hirscher, the five-time world champion, said. “It is the best marketing for Alpine ski racing.”