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Swiss Meillard wins final giant slalom before Olympics / Photo: © APA/AFP
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Swiss Meillard wins final giant slalom before Olympics
Swiss skier Loic Meillard won the men's World Cup giant slalom in Schladming on Tuesday, the final race in the discipline before the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.
Brazilian Lucas Pinheiro Braathen finished second at 0.73 seconds with French skier Alban Elezi Cannaferina placing third 0.90sec off the pace.
Swiss skiing great Marco Odermatt, the overall World Cup and discipline leader, finished fourth at 1.26sec.
Elezi Cannaferina's first World Cup podium boosts his chances of securing the final berth for the French team at the Olympics which get underway on February 6.
Meillard, 29, posted the second fastest time in both runs to seal his ninth World Cup victory.
Pinheiro Braathen had led the way in the first with Elezi Cannaferina fastest in the second with a near-perfect run down the icy piste.
"Physically, I worked incredibly hard this summer, I've reached many milestones," said Elezi Cannaferina, who became junior world champion in the giant slalom in 2023, twelve years after compatriot Alexis Pinturault.
Veteran Pinturault, a three-time Olympic medallist, finished 25th, nearly six-minutes off the pace to effectively end his hopes of qualifying for the Milan-Cortina Games.
M. Silva--JDB
