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, determined to deliver gold in honour of his grandfather who died on the day of the opening ceremony, held a commanding 0.59-second lead after a faultless first leg held in driving snow.
Slalom world champion Meillard, second-fastest in the first leg, then put down a storming second effort in the penultimate run of the day to crank up the pressure on McGrath, the last of the top 30 to go down.
With gold in sight and requiring just 50 or so seconds of solid skiing, McGrath blew, misjuding a gate early in his run and straddling it to leave the dominant Swiss team celebrating a fourth gold medal from the five men's events in Bormio.
"Crazy day, crazy Olympics. To have three races, three medals, and to top it with a gold it's perfect," Meillard, who also won silver in the team combined event and bronze in the super-G, said.
It was all too much for the heartbroken McGrath, however, who had spoken lovingly about how his grandfather Svein Lie, who died at the age of 83, had been his inspiration.
Throwing away his skis and poles, the slalom World Cup leader stomped across the Stelvio slope and waded through the snow into the adjacent trees to be alone with his thoughts.
Several minutes later, still stewing, he was escorted back down to the finish area in a police Ski-Doo, storming off without talking, although he admirably faced the media back at the team hotel in Bormio.
"It was a mix of shock and just everything in between, it was like a surreal feeling, I haven't really experienced anything like it before," McGrath told reporters.
While attention was focussed on the U.S.-born McGrath's misfortune, the magnificent Meillard's performance cannot be overlooked. His second run was sensational as he won by 0.35 seconds over Austria's Fabio Gstrein.
McGrath's experienced teammate Henrik Kristoffersen was 1.13 seconds back in bronze, a repeat of his result in Sochi in 2014.
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 to go with his slalom world title last year.
"We are all friends and we all know how tough slalom can be," Meillard told reporters when asked if the circumstances of his win left him with mixed emotions.
"But when we are on the start gate we all want to beat each other. I'm pretty sure Atle will stand up pretty strong.
"He would've deserved it as well. He was the best skier this season, but that's part of slalom, that's part of sport."
HEAVY WEATHER TAKES ITS TOLL
Norway's Timon Haugan finished in the dreaded fourth place, although his pain bore no comparison with that of McGrath.
"I can only imagine how sad it must be. He is doing everything perfect, put himself in a position to win the Olympic gold. He does everything right and then that happens in 15 seconds. It's just heartbreaking," he said.
The last event of the men's Alpine skiing programme began in terrible weather conditions with heavy snow making visibility difficult on a course that had been described as "easy" in the build-up. It proved anything but, however, as only 44 of the bloated 96-man start list managed to complete the first run.
The biggest casualty was Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, as the Norway-born Brazilian's hopes of a golden double after his historic giant slalom victory ended with him sliding out.
"Oh man. This sport. It brings you up to the sky and it just slams you back into reality equally as fast," he said.
Those words proved prophetic an hour or so later as his former teammate and close friend McGrath suffered crushing disappointment.
"In the end it's not gonna make or break his career," Kristoffersen said. "What are sports without emotions?"
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; additional reporting by Lisa Jucca and Marleen Kasebier; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Christian Radnedge)
