• Meillard takes title after Norwegian loses grip on gold

• 39-year-old Briton finishes 17th in final Olympic race

As the Rocket zigged and zagged for a fifth and final time at a Winter Olympics on Monday, another skier made a very different kind of exit.

Coming into the final run of the men’s slalom, the Norwegian Atle Lie McGrath knew that victory was there for the taking – until he straddled a gate. Gold was gone. A heartbroken McGrath – who had hoped to deliver victory in honour of his grandfather who died on the day of the opening ceremony – threw his poles as far as he could and trudged across the slope into the woods.