Lara Gut-Behrami maintains perfect start to giant slalom season in Killington ahead of Alice Robinson and Mikaela Shiffrin
The Swiss secured consecutive giant slalom wins in Vermont to back up her Soelden success and extend her World Cup discipline lead.
Alpine Skiing
Lara Gut-Behrami made it two out of two in giant slaloms in the 2023/24 alpine skiing World Cup season at Killington, USA on Saturday (25 November).
The Swiss was third after the first run, just eight-hundredths behind Alice Robinson, and produced the best second run among the protagonists to repeat her triumph from 12 months ago and record her seventh giant slalom victory out of 39 World Cup wins.
Robinson took second place ahead of home favourite Mikaela Shiffrin - the only active skier with more World Cup successes than Gut-Behrami - who was fifth after the first run.
Gut-Behrami told FIS afterwards, “I’m really happy. I’m always trying to improve, to find new motivation, and it’s actually the first time that I race with the red bib in GS and I keep it so that’s a nice feeling too.”
She also became the first Swiss skier to win consecutive giant slaloms since Sonja Nef.
The 32-year-old added, “Two years ago, I won gold at the World Championship 20 years after Sonja. And now back-to-back like her, it’s amazing for me.”
Mikaela Shiffrin makes podium as Lara Gut-Behrami wins again
Icy conditions on the second run meant the skiers had to tread a fine line between aggression and control.
The crowd was roaring as Paula Moltzan attacked the second run with typical abandon, eclipsing previous leader Katharina Liensberger before eventually finishing eighth.
On a rare giant slalom outing, PyeongChang 2018 downhill champion Sofia Goggia looked set to overhaul Moltzan but mistakes late on saw her go second, ahead of Liensberger, on her way to ninth place.
Austria's Julia Scheib was another who showed the value of attack as she finished seventh, her best individual World Cup placing.
Federica Brignone almost came unstuck on the bottom half but managed to stay upright as she finished in sixth.
Her Italian teammate, Olympic Super G champion Marta Bassino, was not so fortunate as she fell having been fifth on the first run.
Olympic champion Sara Hector slipped to fourth from second on the first run with Canada's Valerie Grenier taking fifth place.
And with several of her rivals - including Hector and Shiffrin - making mistakes on the mid-section of the course, Gut-Behrami conquered the conditions with a smooth ski.
She made up time all the way down for a total time eight-tenths quicker than the American hero.
First-run leader Robinson was soon behind the Swiss on the clock, but the three-time World Cup race winner from New Zealand managed to keep her form and secure her first podium since March 2021.
Petra Vlhova was 10th from Liensberger with Albania's 17-year-old Lara Colturi, the daughter of Salt Lake City 2002 Super G gold medallist Daniela Ceccarelli, securing a career-best 12th.
Colturi and Liensberger were joint-quickest on the second run, two-hundredths quicker than Gut-Behrami.
Shiffrin will be seeking her 90th World Cup win in the slalom on Sunday.
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Results of women's Killington Giant Slalom on Saturday 25 November (top 10):
- Lara Gut-Behrami (SUI) 1:53.05
- Alice Robinson (NZL) +0.62
- Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) +0.81
- Sara Hector (SWE) +1.06
- Valerie Grenier (CAN) +1.44
- Federica Brignone (ITA) +1.77
- Julia Scheib (AUT) +1.84
- Paula Moltzan (USA) +1.90
- Sofia Goggia (ITA) +1.95
- Petra Vlhova (SVK) +1.98