SEMMERING – Women’s World Cup overall leader Mikaela Shiffrin capitalized on a grand opening run in a giant slalom on Tuesday, positioning herself for the first win in the discipline in more than a year.
In pursuit of career win No. 78, Shiffrin got off to a roaring start at Semmering, gaining considerable time over her rivals in the first 15 seconds of the run. The American set the fastest split times right up to the final leg, finishing 0.72 seconds ahead of Slovakia’s Petra Vlhová.
France’s Tessa Worley and Canada’s Valérie Grenier finished third and fourth within four hundredths of a second behind Vlhová.
“From the first turn I felt very good, I was very strong and dynamic, so I’m super happy with my skiing,” said Shiffrin, who has won two slaloms and one Super-G this season.
The results left her five wins behind the women’s record for most World Cup wins set by her former teammate Lindsey Vonn.
Shiffrin, the 2018 Olympic champion, has won 14 giant slaloms in her career but none since her December 2021 triumph in Courchevel, France. In calendar year 2022 she only had one podium result out of the seven giant slaloms so far.
Shiffrin opened the race in sunny conditions, shooting clean except for the last few gates where several others found a faster line.
US ski team coach Magnus Andersson will set the gates for the second run on the Panorama course, which was in solid condition despite mild weather days in eastern Austria.
“It’s much better for me than I expected given the warm temperatures. The surface is very firm, there are just a few spots that will break a bit,” Shiffrin said. “There will be a few routes for the second run. I just have to be very tough and very aggressive.”
Marta Bassino, who leads the discipline score after winning the previous GS, was 0.87 behind and Olympic GS champion Sara Hector of Sweden had to catch up 0.96 on the second stage.
Bassino’s Italian teammate Sofia Goggia, who is second overall behind Shiffrin, will not compete at Semmering.
The race is a replacement for the season-opening giant slalom that was canceled in another Austrian resort, Sölden, in October and is the first of a three-day series, followed by another GS on Wednesday and a night slalom the next day.
Shiffrin won all three events when Semmering hosted races for three consecutive days in December 2016 and the American was on course for her first World Cup overall title.
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