San Francisco Frontiers - Meillard underlines Swiss dominance with 'incredible' slalom gold

Meillard, second fastest after the first run, held his nerve to clock a winning aggregate time of 1min 54.02sec.

He had already won team combined gold with teammate Franjo Von Allmen, the newly-crowned downhill champion. Of the 11 titles up for grabs in Saalbach, Switzerland won five, netting 13 of the 33 medals on offer.

Norway's Atle Lie McGrath took silver, at 0.26sec, with German Linus Strasser claiming bronze (+0.52).

"It's crazy, I know slalom can be tough, it's incredible," said Meillard, the first Swiss slalom gold medallist since Georges Schneider 75 years ago in 1950.

"I'm just happy, it's hard to put it into words, it's been a crazy week. I was nervous at the finish -- if it was gold, perfect" he added.

France's Clement Noel had put himself in prime position to secure an elusive world medal by topping the times in the first run.

But the Olympic champion, who has failed to medal at three previous world championships, skied out to groans from the crowd packed around the Ulli Maier course in the Austrian resort.

Noel's failure to finish meant France, deprived of the injured experienced pair of Alexis Pinturault and Cyprien Sarrazin, finished the world champs without a medal for the first time since 2003.

"It's frustrating," admitted Noel. "So far, the world championships have never really worked out for me.

"It's a shame because it's a great event and I'm desperate to shine there.

"The first run is one thing, but everything is decided in the second. I felt confident and calm before the second run. I made a little mistake with enormous consequences."

- Meillard holds nerve -

Austrian Dominik Raschner, 21st in the first run, set the early running with the fastest second leg before Britain's Dave Ryding laid down an excellent, aggressive run to take the lead.

A fan favourite in Austria, where he is based through the season, Ryding led the raucous 20,000-strong, flag-waving crowd packed in around the finish area in a boisterous rendition of Liverpool football club's anthem "You'll never walk alone".

That left the top eight and Reds fan Ryding strumming his ski like a guitar in joy as a host of rivals fell by the wayside, notably reigning champion Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway, Switzerland's Daniel Yule, Austrian Fabio Gstrein and Brazilian Lucas Pinheiro Braathen.

First down from the eight fastest from the first leg was France's Steven Amiez, but he could only finish behind Ryding.

Swiss racer Tanguy Nef also failed to dislodge the Briton, who learned how to ski on a dry slope in northwestern England.

The partisan crowd then erupted as home hope Manuel Feller raced into a substantial 0.72sec lead, airhorns blaring in a truly gladitorial atmosphere at the bottom of the piste.

That did not last long as Germany's Strasser streaked even faster, afforded magnanimous applause by the knowledgeable fans.

Then came the Norwegian pair of Timon Haugan and McGrath, the latter taking the lead, ensuring himself a podium finish with just two more racers to come.

First up was Meillard, who duly took over at the top, edging Feller off the podium.

The Swiss racer, who also won giant slalom bronze in Saalbach, seemed to realise he'd had a cracking descent, quickly taking off his skis and falling to the snow in relief before getting back up to acknowledge the crowd

That left Noel. All eyes turned to the start hut in overcast conditions as the Frenchman prepared himself, a deafening, bass-heavy countdown booming over the tannoy sound system.

Starting with a 0.19sec advantage, Noel saw that slip into the red immediately. It worsened before he skied out, begloved hands quickly up to his face in disappointment.

C.Lewis--SFF