Men's slalom in Alta Badia

When Loïc Meillard wakes up on Monday morning and feels his body, he thinks: “It would be incredible if I made it into the top 10.” Then – a few hours later – he is on the podium in second place. Only the outstanding Norwegian Timon Haugan, who beat Meillard by 1.13 seconds, is faster than the Swiss in the Alta Badia slalom.

Actually unbelievable. Because Meillard suffers from severe back pain. As soon as he swings at the finish, he takes a protective stance. In the leader's box – Meillard managed to jump from eighth place to second place in the second run – he remained standing, even though there was a comfortable chair waiting there. And if you look into Meillard's face, you can clearly see: he is suffering.

Memories of an extremely painful injury

“The two days in Alta Badia were the worst in a long time,” says Meillard a little later in an interview with SRF. As a reminder: The 28-year-old had to miss the start of the season in Sölden at short notice. While driving in he had hit a fatal blow. The diagnosis: tear in the covering of the intervertebral disc. An extremely painful injury.

It was all the more astonishing when Meillard competed in Levi in ​​mid-November – just three weeks after his mishap – and finished the slalom in third place. In general, the man from Neuchâtel has had a very strong slalom season so far: third, fifth, third, and now, as I said, second. Meillard emphasizes that the pain was limited until the performances in Alta Badia. But what does that mean in a sport in which back problems and painkillers are common for many?

In Alta Badia the pain is difficult to bear, even for Meillard. But they can't stop him from starting. He says: “I learned last season that things don’t always go according to plan.” At that time, his bond – Meillard was driving a prototype – unintentionally opened several times and he was eliminated as a result. “That’s why I said to myself again: There’s no point in thinking too much about it.” That means: grit your teeth – and drive.

In the morning, Meillard doesn't succeed as expected. In eighth place he lost 1.44 seconds to Timon Haugan. He says: “In the lowest section of the route I wasn’t able to tolerate the full load.” Completely different in the afternoon: he catapulted himself to the finish line with the second-best running time. And so also leaves Atle Lie McGrath behind in third place. In the lowest sector, Meillard moved up 35 positions compared to the first run. Maybe also in the knowledge that there will now be a short Christmas break.

Daniel Yule's uptick at the right time

Daniel Yule, on the other hand, would prefer things to continue immediately. After three appearances that did not at all meet the standards of a seven-time slalom winner – and resulted in ranks 22, 13 and 20 – the 31-year-old finished ninth in Alta Badia. Although the Lower Valais native lost three places in the decision, he still said: “I can build on these runs. That will give me confidence.”

This has suffered badly recently. «And unfortunately I'm not an Odermatt. For me it will take a little longer until this is back.” Yule alludes to Odermatt's problems in the giant slalom. After two failures at the beginning of the season, the man from Nidwalden drove rather cautiously in Val d'Isère. But on Sunday in Alta Badia there was no longer any sign of it. In an outstanding manner and brimming with self-confidence, Odermatt drove to victory in the second race.

Yule's upward trend is all the more encouraging from a Swiss perspective because the peak season for slalom skiers is about to begin. In January the classics follow one after the other in Madonna, Adelboden, Wengen, Kitzbühel and Schladming. And Yule achieved six of his seven slalom victories in the first month of the year (three in Madonna, two in Kitzbühel, one in Adelboden).

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