Loic Meillard Wins Last Giant Slalom of the Season in a Swiss 1-2 Podium in Sun Valley

Loic Meillard won in a dominant manner the last Giant Slalom of the season held in Sun Valley. He finished with an impressive lead of 0.98 seconds ahead of his teammate, Marco Odermatt. Henrik Kristoffersen completed the podium in third place, finishing 1.14 seconds behind Meillard.

The 28-year-old Swiss skier has displayed exceptional form, winning the season's last two Giant Slalom events in Hafjell and Sun Valley.

"I feel comfortable on the skis right now, and I'm hitting the slopes well. The experience from the last few years has helped me this season. My confidence has been high all season, which has helped me win races. I'm trying not to overdo it. I'm happy that things are going so well at the moment. Tomorrow, I want to push myself again; it's going to be a tough fight," Meillard said.

After struggling in the first run, Odermatt set the fastest time in the second run to finish in second place.

"I'm very happy to close the season with another podium. It’s always a tough fight, and Loic is in amazing shape. He already won in Hafjell, and then to be nearly a second ahead here. Congratulations to Loic, he deserves it, and I’m also super happy with the second place," Meillard said.

Henrik Kristoffersen finished in third place, claiming his 95th career podium, and finished second in the Giant Slalom standings.

"I’m happy, it was exhausting. In terms of how hard you had to work, it was very tough. They are two great skiers and I’m very happy with third place. I overestimated the course a little bit, to be honest. I watched two or three runs, and it looked like chaos. I think I need to stop watching people, because it always looks really difficult and then it isn’t that difficult. I was a little bit too round in spots," Kristoffersen said.

Marco Odermat has already secured the 2024-25 Giant Slalom Crystal Globe in Hafjell. This is Odermatt’s fourth consecutive Giant Slalom World Cup title. In the 36 Giant Slalom World Cup races Odermatt has competed in since the start of the 2021-2022 season, the Swiss skier has won 24. Only Marcel Hirscher (31 wins) and Stenmark (46 wins) are in front of him on the all-time Men’s Giant Slalom win list.

Odermatt has also won the Super-G, Downhill, and Overall Crystal Globes for the second season.

With 88 podium finishes across all disciplines (42 in Giant Slalom, 25 in Super-G, and 21 in Downhill), Odermatt holds the record for the most World Cup podiums by a Swiss male skier.