Italian skier Brignone leads GS at worlds after first run as defending champ Shiffrin skips race
Italian skier Brignone leads GS at worlds after first run as defending champ Shiffrin skips race
SAALBACH-HINTERGLEMM, Austria (AP) — Federica Brignone dominated the opening run of the women’s giant slalom at the Alpine skiing world championships on Thursday with defending champion Mikaela Shiffrin sitting out.
Aiming to become the first Italian winner of the race in 28 years, Brignone built a big lead of 0.67 seconds over Alice Robinson of New Zealand.
Paula Moltzan stood third and the American had 1.24 to make up in the second run.
“It’s good for me. In the second run the course will not be perfect, but I have a lot of time advantage,” said Brignone, who won silver in super-G a week ago and leads the overall World Cup standings in arguably the best season of her career.
Shiffrin skipped the event as she said she was not ready yet to race giant slalom again following a crash in November.
The American paired with downhiller Breezy Johnson and skied the slalom portion to win the team combined event at the worlds on Tuesday and planned to start in Saturday’s slalom.
Shiffrin won the giant slalom world title in 2023 and has been on the podium in GS at every worlds since 2017.
“What I have been struggling with this past couple of weeks with GS is, when we bring in normal or, like, real conditions, a little bit harder snow, I don’t even know that I’m scared,” Shiffrin said. “I just can’t do the movements that you need to do to make a fast GS turn.”
The American holder of a record 99 World Cup wins suffered a deep puncture wound when she fell in a GS on Nov. 30 in Killington, Vermont, causing severe trauma to her oblique muscles, and underwent surgery in December.
Brignone gained the most time with a flawless run on the lower part of the Schneekristall course. Organizers salted the surface to harden the snow.
“It’s really hard under your feet because when the salt is working, you have grip, but it’s also a bit slippery,” said Brignone, calling it “my favorite snow, for sure.”
Brignone won GS silver in 2011 and 2023 and can become the first Italian winner of the event since Deborah Compagnoni won back-to-back titles in 1996-97.
“I tried to be really active and to be always on the edge and never slide because there was not so much speed, especially the middle part,” Brignone said.
Her Italian teammates Sofia Goggia and Marta Bassino failed to finish their runs.
Moltzan was eyeing her first career world championship medal in an individual event.
“I’m really happy with most of my skiing and I looked at my splits and the last split was a bit slow compared to Fede,” said Moltzan, who was part of the American team that won the mixed parallel event two years ago.
Moltzan led Brignone by 0.01 at the first split and posted the second fastest time in the third section.
“The course is a bit slow tempo, so you kind of just have to make your own speed,” Moltzan said. “I’m happy with how I skied and I know there’s some room for improvement, and that’s what I’m going to go for for the second run.”
Lara Gut-Behrami, the Olympic bronze medalist in GS from Switzerland, was 1.40 behind on a course set by her coach and father, Pauli Gut.
Olympic champion Sara Hector of Sweden was three-hundredths of a second further back in fifth.
At 34 years, 7 months, Brignone can become the oldest female medalist at the worlds, overtaking Lindsey Vonn, who was four months younger when she won downhill bronze in 2019.
Vonn, who came out of retirement after nearly six years at age 40 this season with a new titanium knee, doesn’t race in giant slalom anymore.
The first run with 109 starters was interrupted for about 20 minutes after a crash by Greek skier Maria-Eleni Tsiovolou, who was airlifted out unknown injuries.
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