Alpine Ski World Cup 2023/24: Federica Brignone wins giant slalom in Åre
The Italian claimed her fifth victory of the season to give herself a shot at winning the giant slalom crystal globe. Overall World Cup leader Lara Gut-Behrami came in second with Sara Hector finishing second on home snow.
Alpine Skiing
Italy’s Federica Brignone bagged her third giant slalom victory of the 2023/24 FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup season in Åre, Sweden, on Saturday (9 March) to keep her dreams alive of winning the crystal globe in the discipline.
The Olympic silver medallist denied Swiss sensation Lara Gut-Behrami her first giant slalom crystal globe in the penultimate race of the season. In doing so, Brignone gave herself a fighting chance to snatch the title from Gut-Behrami’s grasp as she trails the Swiss skier by 95 points going into the season finale in Austria next week.
The 33-year-old Brignone delivered a flying second half on her second run for a combined winning time of two minutes, 11.02 seconds (2:11.02), edging home favourite Sara Hector into second place by 0.33s. Gut-Behrami had to be content with third place with a time of 2:11.42 but still holds onto her place at the top of the giant slalom World Cup standings.
“On the first run, I was not really happy. I started really bad, and I had no confidence. On my second run, I said to myself, ‘OK, you have to try everything,’” Brignone said.
“I tried my best, and I am so grateful and proud of what I did. I am skiing really well in training, so I finally also did it in the race. It is like a dream. I am really proud of what I am doing.”
Brignone recently hit a rich vein of form, adding her giant slalom victory to her win in the Super G in Kvitfjell, Norway, a week ago, to top the podium for a fifth time this season.
Gut-Behrami still leads the overall standings, with a 286-point lead over Brignone in second place. US superstar Mikaela Shiffrin is in third, 445 points adrift.
The Swiss skier leads the standings in the Super G, giant slalom and the downhill, while Shiffrin is still in the driving seat in the slalom. She will make her return to the World Cup in the slalom race in Are on Sunday after she suffered an MCL injury after crashing out during the Cortina d'Ampezzo downhill on 26 January.
Are FIS World Cup: Results from women's giant slalom, 9 March 2024 (top 10):
- Federica Brignone (ITA) +2:11.02
- Sara Hector (SWE) +0:33
- Lara Gut-Behrami (SUI) +0:40
- Marta Bassino (ITA) +1.47
- Thea Louise Stjernesund (NOR) +1.49
- Julia Scheib (AUT) +1.70
- Clara Direz (FRA) +1.78
- Mina Fuerst Holtmann (NOR) +1.87
- Fraziska Gritsch (AUT) +2.08
- Paula Moltzan (USA) +2.09
Full race standings and split timings are available on the FIS Ski website.