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Atle Lie McGrath of Team Norway competes during run 1 in the Men's Slalom in alpine skiing at the Stelvio Ski Center during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games. Michael Kappeler/dpa
Norway's Atle Lie McGrath was leading the way from Swiss world champion Loic Meillard in the Olympic slalom which saw several contenders led by Brazil's Lucas Pinheiro Braathen ski out in difficult conditions.
Twice season winner and slalom World Cup leader McGrath posted 56.14 seconds as the first starter in at times heavy snowfall. Meillard, who beat McGrath for the world title last year, was right after him and came within .59 of a second.
"It is difficult with bib one. I had a good plan. There is a lot of pressure at the Olympics. I have to go full throttle and ski well," McGrath told German broadcasters ZDF.
Austrian Fabio Gstrein was already .92 back in third. Norway's Timon Haugan was the only other skier within a second of the top after all main contenders from an overall field of 96 had competed.
The 2022 gold medallist Clement Noel of France trailed by a massive 1.96 seconds, tied with Marco Schwarz of Austria.
Braathen, whose giant slalom gold on Saturday was a first ever medal for a South American country, lost control in a left turn to crash out.
"That's the reality of this great sport - the fine line between winning and going out. All this is the recipe for my future success," Braathen said.
He was in good company as French twice season winner Paco Rassat, last month's Kitzbühel winner Manuel Feller of Austria, Italy's Alex Vinatzer and Finnish talent Eduard Hallberg did also not reach the finish line.
Veteran Dave Ryding will however return for the second run at 1230 GMT in his last Olympic race at his fifth Games. The retirement-bound only British winner of a World Cup race, 2022 in Kitzbühel, is 3.74 seconds off the pace.
Unlike World Cup races, where only the top 30 contest the second run, all first run finishers can ski again, with the top 30 going first in reverse order.
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