Industry News
Watching the giant slalom is never boring but yesterday it was a quite dramatic fight!
Italian Marta Bassino took the first place in the first run surprisingly after disappointing 12th in Solden, finishing in just 49.05 s. She was 0.23 s ahead of Petra Vlhova (she was 14th in previous GS in Austria) and 0.29 s faster than Michelle Gisin (she was 9th in Solden). The three were followed by Tessa Worley (+0.35 s) and Mikaela Shiffrin (+0.41 s). This run was unfortunate for New Zealander Alice Robinson, who crashed.
Being 5th in the first run didn’t prevent Mikaela from taking a place on the podium in yesterday’s race. She showed the fastest time for the second run, only 49.02 s and finally took the third place with two Italians Marta Bassino and Federica Brignone take first and second.
The race was followed by a press conference with the winners. Here are some words of wisdom from the best women skiers:
Federica Brignone about second GS run:
I was skiing more and more aggressive, I didn’t try to change my skiing completely, I just tried to attack more and more and not to think about it. My problem is sometimes i go out and make some mistakes and second run I could just think about what i have to do and try to attack and push every turn. That was my only thought.
Marta Bassino about the race:
Tom Horrocks: Today you charged both runs, both runs, congratulations!
Marta Bassino: Yes, thank you! It’s a dream and a dream comes true and it was amazing and I’m so-so happy. I was a little bit nervous after the first run and I tried to do my best on the second run and I crossed the finished line and “Wow! I did it! ”
Press conference Q & A with Mikaela Shiffrin:
Media: You said yesterday, that you’re having fun while skiing? So, did you have fun both runs? Have you been nervous at all?
Mikaela Shiffrin: I have fun, but it’s always a little bit of, like jitters, I wasn’t really nervous today, I enjoyed today. And I really looking forward to tomorrow. I just love racing in front of the crowd here. Everybody is so nice, so excited. I don’t know – it’s a special atmosphere here. I definitely didn’t feel extra pressure here, I wanna see my best skiing here. I feel like I was much closer on the second run.
Media: Was it hard racing here?
Mikaela Shiffrin: There is a lot of speed in the hill, and the tricky thing is it’s not really speeding. You have to push it but you have to maintain the balance : Oh, you’re going really fast, but you have to go faster and also be smart about it because if you’re going too hard you’re going to make mistakes but the course is short and you’re really going to be fast, and clean, and make no mistakes. It’s always like a little bit more challenging but that makes it fun!
Media: How did you find the race course?
Mikaela Shiffrin: The course is nice here. And I was much straighter on the second run. My biggest goal for the second run was not breaking through the surface but still being aggressive, let everything go forward.
Media: We saw Mikaela singing, dancing. Could it that we could see Mikaela on the stage instead of Grace Potter?
Mikaela Shiffrin: I’m not gonna say without uncertainty, but wanna say “No” (laughing), but it’s a nice spot!
Media: What did you do with reindeer?
Mikaela Shiffrin: My reindeer, they are in Finland, at the farm where they came from and I think it’s better for them to live there. If I would bring them home, all would be asking: what is this? But they are very very cute and I visit them every year when I go to Levi.
Today is the slalom day, the discipline Mikaela Shiffrin is the best and that we can see from her first run this morning. She was the fastest with the time 51.98 s, more than one second ahead of her rival Petra Vlhova.
