BORMIO, Italy, Feb 16 (Reuters) - The razor edge between joy and despair in Olympic sport was laid bare as Loic Meillard won Switzerland's first men's slalom gold since 1948, while Atle Lie McGrath was inconsolable after stumbling out of the race and into the forest - literally - on Monday.
Norway's McGrath, hoping to deliver gold in honour of his grandfather who died on the day of the opening ceremony, held a 0.59-second lead from the first leg.
Meillard, second-fastest in the first run, put down a stunning second run, however, to crank up the pressure on McGrath, the last of the top 30 to go down.
With gold in sight, McGrath straddled a gate early in his run to blow his chance and leave the Swiss celebrating a fourth gold medal from the five men's Alpine skiing events in Bormio.
It was all too much for the heartbroken McGrath, who had spoken lovingly about his grandfather Svein Lie who died at the age of 83.
Throwing away his skis and poles, the slalom World Cup leader trudged across the Stelvio slope through deep snow and into the adjacent trees to be alone with his thoughts. Several minutes later he was escorted back down to the finish area in a police Ski-Doo.
Meillard's winning margin was 0.35 seconds over Austria's Fabio Gstrein, with McGrath's teammate Henrik Kristoffersen 1.13 seconds back in bronze, a repeat of his result in Sochi in 2014.
"I had to give it all and try my best. And when I saw some green, I was like, amazing. A third medal, third race. You never know if it's going to be gold or not," Meillard said.
"Atle would've deserved it as well. He was the best skier this season, but that's part of slalom, that's part of sport."
Meillard, the first Swiss man to win the slalom since Edy Reinalter in the 1948 Winter Olympics - when the slalom was first raced, will return home with a complete set of medals. Meillard won the silver in the team combined and the bronze in the super-G.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
