Loïc Meillard: How far technique can take you

Loïc Meillard makes it easy to take a closer look at the technical disciplines in alpine skiing. The Swiss skier won the 2025 World Championships slalom and the 2026 Olympic slalom. At the same time, giant slalom is one of his defining disciplines. If you see him only as a slalom skier, you miss a substantial part of his sporting history.

Ahead of 2026/27, Meillard is part of the Swiss national team. He enters the new winter after finishing fourth in the overall World Cup last season. This profile follows his sporting journey and two venues where you can follow the switch between slalom and giant slalom particularly well. The races mentioned are reference points, not personal confirmations of his participation.

Meillard was born in Neuchâtel and races for SC Hérémencia. His birthplace and his club are therefore two different stages in his sporting biography. The Valais club environment is part of his career, even though the major races take him through the entire winter calendar.

He made his World Cup debut in Adelboden in January 2015. As a junior, he won World Championship titles in the combined event and giant slalom. These early successes fit a skier whose profile later covered several technical disciplines. His development was broader than his most recent slalom medal alone might suggest.

This is a useful perspective when you are watching. A skier can become particularly well known in one discipline and produce equally interesting races in another. Meillard’s giant slalom therefore deserves a closer look of its own. You do not need to catch up on an entire season; one carefully chosen race weekend is enough to start.

At the 2025 World Championships in Saalbach, Meillard won the slalom and the team combined event. He also took bronze in the giant slalom. At the 2026 Olympics, he followed this with slalom gold, silver in the team combined event and bronze in the giant slalom. The team medal is a shared achievement and is distinguished here from the individual medals.

Slalom demands tight changes of direction through a course of poles. In giant slalom, the gates are spaced further apart and the turns are longer. This simple distinction helps when following his races. It does not, however, explain on its own why a particular section succeeds or costs time. For that, you need to watch the actual run.

The tally of nine individual World Cup wins covers different race formats. It was recorded as at 22 October 2026. His fourth-place finish in 2025/26 adds a season perspective to the titles. Major medals and an overall World Cup ranking measure different things; none of these figures alone predicts a result for the coming winter.

Adelboden is also the venue of Meillard’s first World Cup start. For 2027, the giant slalom is scheduled for 9 January and the slalom for 10 January. Visiting on both days lets you follow the same skier on different courses, provided he is selected for both.

Schladming offers the corresponding switch in the evening. The organiser has confirmed the night giant slalom for 26 January 2027 and the slalom for 27 January. Both evenings are interesting for an all-round technical skier. When looking for accommodation, you should therefore decide whether you want to see one competition or the whole event.

The date sources were checked on 22 October 2026. Check the daily programme and the Swiss selections again before your visit. There is a difference between a scheduled World Cup venue and Meillard’s confirmed participation. If you are travelling to see a particular athlete, both belong in your preparations.

The home World Championships in Crans-Montana are another focus. The organiser lists the dates as 1 to 14 February 2027. Following his titles in 2025, the slalom and team combined event are particularly relevant to this profile. His participation depends on Swiss selection. Dates checked: 22 October 2026.

For Schladming, the Nightrace publishes a stadium overview with ticket areas. For a first visit, we recommend a place where you can follow the final section and the times clearly. Stay there during a run. Moving around is of little benefit if you miss the section you wanted to compare.

The organiser describes the slalom course down to the finish at the Planai. Watch the same section when the next skier comes through. This fixed point of observation makes it clearer how differently a task can be solved. You do not need to make claims about Meillard’s preferred technique or speculate about his equipment choices.

Before race evening, check the route to your booked spectator entrance and the journey back after the second run. The connection between two ski mountains during the day does not automatically help with this evening journey.

Compare accommodation based on the actual routes to the cable car and the spectator entrance. Anyone wanting to experience both race evenings should give more weight to the late journey home. An independent ski day fits better before or after the event than between arrival and the first run. Take one concrete observation away from the stadium: a turn, a transition or the rhythm of a sequence of gates. You can build on it at the next race.