Strains and loses medal: escape in the woods goes around the world

Scene bordering on the surreal in the final stages of the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic special slalom in Bormio. Norway&#8217s Atle Lie McGrath, the leader after the first run and with the gold practically in his hand in the second run, saw it all vanish in an instant due to a straddle in the second downhill, which forced him to bid farewell to his dreams of glory, leaving the podium to the’Swiss Loic Meillard, the new Olympic champion in the specialty, to Austria&#8217s Fabio Gstrein, silver, and another Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen, bronze.

Making the rounds around the world were the images immediately following his retirement: stunned by what had just happened, McGrath unhooked his boots from his skis, stepped over the safety net and went, walking on fresh snow, in the direction of the woods near the slope, letting himself go in a moment of loneliness, anger and tears after missing what would have been his first Olympic medal, an achievement that seemed close even in light of a dominating first run.

Francesco Lucivero

Monday&#8217s race concluded the men&#8217s alpine skiing program at Milan Cortina 2026, an edition that gave huge satisfaction to Switzerland in the men&#8217s races: Meillard’s gold in the special slalom aside, the Swiss team also brought home two other golds, with Franjo von Allmen in the downhill and Super-G, two silvers, with Marco Odermatt in the giant slalom and with the same Odermatt and Meillard in the combined team event, and two bronzes, again with Odermatt in the Super-G and with Meillard in the giant slalom.

The other medals are Brazil’s gold in the giant slalom with Lucas Pinheiro Braathen (first Olympic medal for the South American country at the Winter Games), silvers for Italy with Giovanni Franzoni (downhill), the United States with Ryan Cochran-Siegle (Super-G) and l’Austria with Vincent Kriechmayr and Manuel Feller (team combined, ex-aequo with Switzerland) and bronzes for Italy with Dominik Paris (downhill) and Kristofferson in today&#8217s special slalom.

As for Atle Lie McGrath, the Norwegian will have a chance to redeem himself in the World Cup, where he currently leads the slalom specialty standings with 452 points, one more than Braathen. The next World Cup special slalom is next March 8, scheduled in Kranjska Gora (Slovenia).