Bormio (Italy) (AFP) - Loic Meillard won the Swiss men’s team their fourth Olympic gold in the five alpine skiing events in Bormio when he streaked to victory in the slalom on Monday.

The 29-year-old world champion clocked a winning time of 1min 53.61sec, with Austrian Fabio Gstrein taking silver at 0.35sec and Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen rounding out the podium (+1.13).

Meillard’s gold caps an incredible couple of weeks for the Swiss men’s team, Franjo von Allmen having won the downhill and super-G titles before then pairing with Tanguy Nef to win the team combined.

“It’s amazing,” said Meillard. “With a world title in slalom and an Olympic title this year, it’s crazy.”

Meillard, who had already taken team combined silver with Marco Odermatt and giant slalom bronze in Bormio, was second fastest in the first leg behind Norway’s Atle Lie McGrath and laid down the joint fastest second leg for victory.

“I had to give it all and try my best. And when I saw some green (for best time), I was like, amazing. A third medal, third race. You never know if it’s going to be gold or not,” he said.

There was late drama as McGrath bombed out of his second leg, hitting a gate high up the course so hard it knocked him out of his rhythm.

Disgusted, McGrath hurled his poles over the safety netting that lined the Stelvio piste, with nearby Swiss team members embracing each other in celebration.

McGrath then trudged off to the other side of the course, despondent, lying in the snow in angry reflection.

“Atle Lie would’ve deserved it as well, he was the best skier this season, but that’s part of slalom, that’s part of sport,” Meillard said.

Switzerland’s Matthias Iten led after the first 15 racers from 14 different countries as diverse as Haiti, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Israel and Chile, some of whom eventually finished more than 14 seconds off the winning time.

Norway’s Eirik Hystad Solberg took the lead with the second fastest second leg in 57.03sec before some of the more established names in slalom skiing started their descents.

Swiss Nef, who laid down an incredible slalom run to win gold for him and partner Von Allmen in the combined, took over as leader with 10 to race.

Tommaso Saccardi, the highest rated Italian in the absence of first-leg casualties Alex Vinatzer and Tommaso Sala, finished well off the pace, as did Austria’s three-time Olympic medallist Michael Matt.

- Noel straddles -

That left the top eight, with France’s Clement Noel first out of the hut for a second leg run in increasingly sunny conditions – unlike the heavy snow that marred the morning’s first run that only saw 44 of the 95 racers finish.

The defending Olympic champion duly followed team orders to attack, but it didn’t last long as he straddled a gate high up the course.

Austrian Marco Schwarz failed to dislodge Nef, but 2023 world champion Kristoffersen, a two-time Olympic medallist, turned on the afterburners to snatch his place in the provisional leader’s chair.

It was down to the last five quickest from the first leg, the tension palpable around a packed tribune.

Belgium’s Armand Marchant botched his descent, leaving the three racers who finished the first leg within a second of McGrath.

First up was Timon Haugan, but the Norwegian had to settle with second behind Kristoffersen.

Gstrein, with just two World Cup podiums to his name, then set the pace on the second leg to dramatically snatch the lead from Kristoffersen.

Swiss hopes lay with Meillard and he did not disappoint, delivering a near-faultless run to race into the lead as all eyes turned on McGrath.

When McGrath’s pole clattered off the gate with unnatural force, it was game over for the Norwegian, but spelled more joy for the Swiss men’s team, who will return home with eight of the 15 medals on offer (four gold, two silver, two bronze).