“A pure disaster!”: Swiss ski boss Lehmann rushes after Meillard-Out

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Loïc Meillard (27) becomes the tragic hero of Chuenisbärgli. The vice world champion in giant slalom shows his strongest performance this winter in the first run-up to the last split – he is in third place, 59 hundredths behind his excellent teammate Odermatt. But then the binding of the right ski pops open without being hit by the piste.

As a reminder, at the end of October, Meillard’s left binding failed for no apparent reason at the opening giants in Sölden. In preparation for the season, Meillard repeatedly described the new binding system, which he received exclusively from his supplier Look-Rossignol, as a “great innovation”. And some other Rossignol pilots have cursed behind closed doors that they are not allowed to ride with this binding.

But now the French-speaking Swiss are no longer envied for this prototype, but rather pitied. Meillard continues to claim “that this bond between Sölden and Adelboden has always worked perfectly.”

The old system defeated Odermatt in Bormio

But Swiss ski president Urs Lehmann strongly advises Meillard to change equipment: “If a binding breaks open twice in four races without Loïc having done anything wrong, that is an absolute disaster. And there is a high risk that the athlete will completely lose safety, because he can no longer rely on his bindings at the beginning of the race.

It is quite possible that Meillard will put last year’s bindings on his skis during the slalom on Chuenisbärgli on Sunday. And the Frenchman Cyprien Sarrazin proved that the old look system still meets the highest standards during the New Year’s Eve week in Bormio when he rode nine hundredths faster than Marco Odermatt in the descent.

Source : Blick