In a stunning upset that sent shockwaves through the Alpine skiing world, Italian star Federica Brignone charged to victory in the season-opening women’s World Cup giant slalom in Soelden, Austria on Saturday. The shocking result saw American ski racing icon Mikaela Shiffrin, who led after the first run, fade to a disappointing fifth place finish.
Brignone, the 2022 Olympic giant slalom silver medalist, laid down a blistering second run to claim her first win in Soelden and get her season off to a flying start. The 32-year-old Italian edged out surprise runner-up Alice Robinson of New Zealand by 0.17 seconds, with Austrian Julia Scheib taking an impressive third for her first career World Cup podium.
Shiffrin Struggles in Second Run
But the big story was the stunning collapse of Shiffrin, the two-time Olympic gold medalist and reigning World Cup overall champion. After setting the pace in the first run, the 28-year-old American could only manage the 27th-fastest second run, dropping her well out of contention.
If I miss the timing, then I’m just kind of fighting against the tracks the whole way down. This hill, if you are fighting it, then it is so slow,
Shiffrin said in analyzing what went wrong on her second run.
Shiffrin, who owns the women’s record with 22 career giant slalom wins, was competing in her first race in the discipline since injuring her knee in a downhill crash in January. She told reporters she felt good coming into the race and was happy with her skiing, but just needed to find a way to ski with more intensity and aggression.
Strong Showing for U.S. Women
While the result was surely disappointing for Shiffrin, it was an excellent day overall for the U.S. women’s tech team. Three other American skiers notched career-best World Cup giant slalom results:
- Katie Hensien, in her first race back from injury, finished a stunning fourth.
- Nina O’Brien took seventh in her first World Cup start in 19 months after recovering from a broken leg.
- Paula Moltzan placed 11th.
According to a U.S. ski team spokesperson, it marked the strongest team result for the American women in a World Cup giant slalom since 2000, a hugely promising sign for a young squad on the rise.
Gut-Behrami a Surprise DNS
The women’s field was missing one of its biggest stars as defending World Cup overall and giant slalom champion Lara Gut-Behrami made the last-minute decision not to start. The 32-year-old Swiss speed queen, who has battled illness and a nagging knee injury in the offseason, told reporters she simply did not feel fit to compete safely at the highest level.
During the inspection, doing the warmup, I understood it was not the day to race. You can not go to the start and feel 90% or have doubts about your health,
Gut-Behrami said.
Her absence opened the door for the rest of the field, and Brignone, Robinson, and Scheib took full advantage to snag podium spots and stake their claim as forces to watch in the new season. With stars like Shiffrin, Gut-Behrami, and Slovakia’s Petra Vlhova in the mix, the women’s World Cup promises to deliver another winter full of compelling storylines and heated battles across the disciplines.
What’s Next
The women’s Alpine World Cup continues on November 16 with a slalom event in Levi, Finland, where Shiffrin and Vlhova are expected to renew their longstanding slalom rivalry. The men open their season on Sunday in Soelden with a giant slalom showdown featuring overall World Cup champion Marco Odermatt of Switzerland.
With a surprise winner, a disappointing result from the favorite, and a field hungry to establish themselves, the opening act of the new ski racing campaign delivered plenty of intriguing plot twists. As the season picks up steam, expect more shakeups and nail-biting finishes as a deep roster of international stars chase victory on the World Cup stage.
