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What an exciting day today, January 21, at Kronplatz, Italy, with unexpected podium winners and some upsets for seasoned skiers. Perched in the heart of the Dolomites, Kronplatz has been a staple on the FIS World Cup circuit since 2017. It has been a premier destination for technical events, particularly Giant Slalom races, and Mikaela Shiffrin holds the record for most victories at Kronplatz, with three Giant Slalom wins. Its signature Erta course, whose name means “steep” in Ladin, lives up to its reputation with sharp gradients and demanding turns that proved to test even the most seasoned skiers today.
Run 1
Giant Slalom is conducted in two runs with the combined time counting. Only the fastest 30 skiers qualify for Run 2. Current Giant Slalom leader Sara Hector was first out of the gate in bib 1 and set the pace with a 56.31. She was quickly unseated by Federica Brignone in bib 2, who is leading the overall rankings across all disciplines. Brignone has been having a fantastic season, but the 34-year-old athlete admitted in an interview that it also creates a lot of pressure to keep performing. Maybe it was this pressure that caused Austria’s Julia Scheib to make a mistake, ending her run with a DNF after leading by almost half a second until just five gates from the finish. The athlete almost skidded across the finish line on her behind—what a disappointment for the podium-winner from the Giant Slalom season opener in Sölden, Austria.
Alice Robinson in bib 4 was ready to fight—with three podiums so far in Giant Slalom this season, the 23-year-old Kiwi athlete was certainly a top contender for the podium. However, despite a solid run, the wonder from down under could not unseat Brignone nor demote Hector, skiing into third 0.20 seconds behind Hector. But the next top athlete was in the gate, Switzerland’s Lara Gut-Behrami, who put down a fast and furious run and, despite some mistakes, skied into a fantastic second between Brignone and Hector.
Zrinka Ljutic in bib 6, who skied in a special blue bib for the leader of the FIS Rising Star category, could not quite garner her usual momentum and skied across the finish line more than a second behind Brignone. The last of the top seven skiers were Thea Louise Stjernesund, and the Norwegian squeezed herself into the gap between Hector and Robinson, demoting the Kiwi to fifth in Run 1.
USA’s Paula Moltzan skied in bib 11 into a strong tenth place, while teammate Nina O’Brien was just 0.07 seconds behind her in 12th place. AJ Hurt and Katie Hensien also qualified for Run 2 in 17th and 24th place, respectively.
Canada’s Valerie Grenier qualified in sixth place, while her teammate Britt Richardson claimed her first qualification in a World Cup in ninth place.
Run 2
Run 2 is where all the action happens, with the top 30 skiers skiing in reverse order. The ninth skier, Lara Della Mea, had qualified with the highest bib number of the day for Run 2 with a bib of 39, and the Italian skier showed that this was not a fluke. She extended her lead from Run 1 and skied into the lead a total of 0.76 seconds ahead of Nea Dvornik, who had, until then, sat in the leader’s seat. Della Mea managed to hold onto the leader’s seat for a total of 10 skiers and was finally unseated by Team USA’s Nina O’Brien, who snatched the lead by 0.21 seconds despite a big mistake close to the finish line. “Oh my God,” O’Brien exclaimed in the finish, considering she had almost crashed on the eighth last gate.
Unfortunately, O’Brien had to surrender her lead promptly to Zrinka Ljutic, who put down an almost flawless run and finished in 0.62 seconds. Ljutic, however, also could not enjoy her time in the leader’s seat, as Team USA’s Paula Moltzan showed who’s boss and dominated over Ljutic by 0.38 seconds. Moltzan stated, “I am not sure how it’s possible but I told myself second run that I wanted to ski strong and I gave it my all. I made some mistakes but recovered well and I am so happy.”
Moltzan hung on to her lead for the next few skiers. Lara Colturi failed to beat Moltzan’s time but squeezed in between the American and Croatia’s Ljutic. Switzerland’s Camille Rast, who has been having a strong Slalom season, could not best Moltzan’s time. Canada’s Grenier and Richardson both failed to unseat her, but it was enough for eighth and seventh place, respectively, for the Canadians, marking the first FIS points for 21-year-old Richardson.
Then it was down to the last five skiers, and the fifth-last skier was Robinson. The Kiwi had a 0.96-second lead on Moltzan From Run 1 and managed to hang to almost all of her lead, skiing into the lead 0.94 seconds ahead of the American.
Norway’s Stjernesund meanwhile could not hang on to her tiny 0.07-lead from Run 1 and gave back more than half a second on the top section. Ultimately she crossed the finish line a whole 1.5 seconds behind Robinson, which was only sixth place for the 28-year-old.
Then it was the third-fastest skier from Run 1: Sara Hector. The Swede made an early mistake and then clipped the following gate, flying head-first into the nets. Thankfully, Hector seemed unhurt and skied to the bottom unassisted. It was a sure podium for Robinson now, but with the fastest two still left to go, the young Kiwi barely dared to hope. Lara Gut-Behrami was next. Last year’s Overall Crystal Globe winner, however, could not unseat Robinson and finished more than half a second behind the New Zealand ski racer in second place, relegating Moltzan to third. The last skier was Federica Brignone, and the 34-year-old made a mistake at the same gate as Hector and missed the next gate—an unexpected blooper by the seasoned athlete, who looked gutted on the course.
Robinson, meanwhile, in the finish area, could not believe her luck, and astonishment dominated her face before giving way to a big smile. It is Robinson’s first podium in four years and her fourth victory overall. The 23-year-old had a promising first World Cup season in 2019-20 with two victories, followed by another victory in 2020-21, before the Kiwi hit a slump and failed to podium for the next two seasons.
“I’m really quite speechless,” Robinson said in the post-race interview. “I think the last ten races before today I was on the podium eight times and two DNFs. It’s been four years since I last won and there were definitely some times in those four years where I wasn’t sure if I was going to win again, so to be back and winning here is just so special. My family’s here to watch,” the young ski racer added, “and I guess it’s just a lot….so much has happened in the last four years, and to get back to winning is really special.”
Meanwhile, Robinson was not the only one with family in the crowd. “My family is here and so it is so special,” Moltzan agreed. “I think it is a great place to build off for World Championships. I think sitting in 10th after first run it is a tough place to move up from so when I had the green light at the end I am very proud of the skiing I did today.” Today’s third place marked Paula Moltzan’s first Giant Slalom podium of her career.
The tech women will continue competitions on January 30, with a Slalom race at Courchevel, France, while the speed women race on January 25-26, in
Garmisch, Germany, where both a Downhill and Super-G event are on the schedule.
