Albert Popov finished 18th in Saalbach

Albert Popov finished 18th in the slalom of the Alpine Skiing World Championships in Saalbach, and Loic Meyard (pictured) ended Switzerland's 75-year "drought" in the discipline and took the title after a big mistake by Olympic champion Clement Noel in the final descent of the favorites, BTA reports.

Popov twice set an 18th time with 1:01.45 minutes and 55.07 seconds, thanks to which he took the same position in the final standings with a total of 1.56.52 minutes. The Bulgarian recorded his first World Cup victory earlier in the season in Madonna di Campiglio and takes 13th place in the discipline.

The end of the slalom in Saalbach was very dramatic. Third from the first run, Atle Lee McGrath from Norway made a strong start and led the standings, but immediately after him, Meyjar descended in 54.60 and a total time of 1:54.02 minutes, which was 0.26 seconds better than McGrath's. The leader of the first run, Noel, was the last of the leading skiers in the world championships, but he missed the gate and, accordingly, France's chance for a first world championship medal. Thus, Linus Strasser took the bronze for Germany, 0.52 seconds behind.

The winner was Meyjar, who is the first Swiss to win a gold medal in slalom since 1950, when Georges Schneider was the champion. 75 years later, the country ended its almost total dominance in Saalbach, with Franjo von Allmen winning the downhill, Marco Odermatt winning the super-G and the team finishing first in the combined.

Meyard himself has his third medal in Saalbach, having been part of the championship team and finishing third in the giant slalom. It was won by Austria's Rafael Haaser.