From troubled boy to podium rider: how Meillard fought his way back to the top

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The year 2024 starts with a disaster for Loïc Meillard (27). In the giant slalom in Adelboden, the Valais with roots in Neuchâtel broke his binding shortly before the finish line, just like at the season opener in Sölden, for no apparent reason. Three days later, the vice world champion in giant slalom was again let down by the bindings during training for the Lauberhorn descent. This time he loses the ski at the Brüggli-S.

Swiss ski president Urs Lehmann (54) is currently very concerned about Meillard: “If an athlete’s bindings come loose so often in such a short time without him having made a mistake, there is a great risk that he will lose all security because he no longer trusts the material at the beginning of the race.”

Two podiums in three races

That is why it is almost a skiing miracle that Meillard is bursting with self-confidence almost four weeks later. Within eight days he achieved two podium finishes. He finished third in the first Super-G in Garmisch and second behind Daniel Yule (30) in the slalom in Chamonix.

“Loïc really impressed me in Chamonix,” says Blick expert and ski legend Bernhard Russi (75) enthusiastically. “Fifth after the first run, he had to deal with extremely difficult conditions in the second run. Not only the slope, but also the light at the start was significantly worse than at Yule. While Olympic champion Clément Noël lost more than two seconds to Daniel under these conditions, Loïc only lost just over a second – really strong!”

An absolute model athlete

The fact that Meillard’s supplier Rossignol got the binding problem under control after the World Cup weeks in the Bernese Oberland is one of the reasons why the 27-year-old got the hang of things in such a short time. The Liechtenstein Alpine prince Marco Büchel (52) sees even more reasons why the son of the former Swiss speed ski record holder will really take off in the second half of the season. «For me, Loïc is, purely from a skiing perspective, the strongest Swiss. To play this class well, he needs really difficult conditions. And if temperatures remain as high as in Chamonix, we will see many races with very difficult conditions in the coming weeks. This also speaks in favor of Meillard because the material works perfectly on salty snow.”

And one more thing: “Loïc is an absolute model athlete who does not overlook any detail during the preparation for the season. While other athletes are slowly but surely starting to weaken, he certainly won’t run out of juice in the season finale.

However, in the giant slalom in Bansko next Saturday, Meillard will face a giant who is unlikely to weaken. Who’s name? Marco Odermatt.

Source : Blick