Industry News
In a thrilling Giant Slalom final at Sun Valley, Idaho, Lara Gut-Behrami walked away today, March 25, with a convincing victory after leading the field in Run 1 by 0.45 seconds. While Italy’s Federica Brignone managed to narrow the gap with the fastest Run 2 of the day to just 0.14 seconds, victory remained firmly in the Swiss ski racer’s hands. Today’s win marks the 100th career World Cup podium for the 33-year-old Gut-Behrami. Brignone secured the season’s Giant Slalom Crystal Globe, overtaking New Zealand’s Alice Robinson, who had been leading the rankings by 20 points until today.
Run 1
An action-packed Run 1 set the tone for today’s World Cup final. Italy’s Brignone was the first skier out of the gate and set the benchmark for the course with a time of 1:04.52. Gut-Behrami was next, and the 33-year-old Swiss skier pushed hard to match Brignone’s aggression. Unlike Brignone, Gut-Behrami mastered the mid-section flawlessly and snatched the lead. Sliding into third place in Run 1 was Sara Hector in bib 4. The 32-year-old Swede crossed the finish line just 0.23 seconds behind Brignone and 0.68 seconds behind Gut-Behrami. These three were the only athletes to stay below 1:05 on Run 1. The gaps behind them became considerably larger with each subsequent skier, and many favorites saw their podium hopes vanish with a DNF, including Paula Moltzan and Alice Robinson.
Moltzan lost her right ski pole on the third gate, which proved disastrous for the rest of her run. While the 30-year-old American did her best to compensate for the imbalance and maintain her rhythm, she lost her balance on a left-hand turn shortly before the finish line and skidded into the nets. The crowd gasped as Moltzan’s helmet went flying, raising concerns about her condition. Thankfully, she managed to get back up and ski across the finish line unassisted, though her chin appeared bloodied. An official diagnosis is still pending.
Meanwhile, Alice Robinson was waiting in the gates. Once the race resumed, the Giant Slalom leader in bib 7 shot out but skidded out on a gate in the mid-section, ending her hopes of earning more points to defend her season title. “Yeah, it’s tough,” Robinson admitted after Run 1. “I felt really good this morning in warm-up, and it looked really good in inspection, and I was excited. Then I went in the start and looked in the first two turns, but then I really struggled with the conditions on the way down. It was tough. It was already quite broken, and it’s that snow that you have to be really soft on, and I made a couple of mistakes. I wanted to try to do my best today, and I think I did,” a disappointed Robinson added. “It just wasn’t really my day; the stars did not align,” she finished with a heavy sigh.
Also ending Run 1 with a DNF was Canada’s Valerie Grenier in bib 8, who had looked strong in the top section. The same fate befell Croatia’s Zrinka Ljutic in bib 11, while Britt Richardson, Katie Hensien, and Katharina Liensberger were disqualified for missing a gate.
Run 2
Run 2 is conducted in reverse order, with the fastest skiers going last. Lauren Macuga was first out of the gate, having qualified for the Giant Slalom World Cup Final by earning 500 points in the season. It was a better run for her than Run 1, and the American ultimately finished the day in 15th place, earning valuable FIS points, as only the top 15 earn points in a World Cup final. Teammate Nina O’Brien finished the day in 12th place, while AJ Hurt finished eighth, moving up two ranks from Run 1.
Italy’s Sofia Goggia had qualified for Run 2 in fourth place and was possibly the only one who could have threatened the top three rankings. However, the “Queen of Speed” made several mistakes on the course and ended her run with a DNF. This left just the top three from Run 1 to battle it out. First up was Sara Hector, who went into the race with a 1.49-second lead over Thea Louise Stjernesund, the current leader. Hector managed to hold on and crossed the finish line 1.50 seconds ahead of the Norwegian.
Second to last was Federica Brignone, who went all out in Run 2. Despite some small mistakes, the Italian maintained her lead over Hector and took over the top spot. With that, Brignone secured the Giant Slalom Crystal Globe regardless of Gut-Behrami’s run. However, the Swiss skier was not one to let this disrupt her focus. The 33-year-old put down a solid run despite minor errors and crossed the finish line 0.14 seconds ahead of Brignone, securing the 48th World Cup victory of her career.
The World Cup Final in Sun Valley continues tomorrow with the men’s Giant Slalom.
