Shiffrin wins gold in giant slalom at worlds

MERIBEL,FRANCE,16.FEB.23 – Mikaela Shiffrin. Photo: GEPA pictures

MERIBEL, France — American skier Mikaela Shiffrin won the world championship gold medal in the women’s giant slalom.

What a year for Shiffrin. Today she earned her first world championship GS victory, 13th World Championship podium and seventh championship victory.

She departed the final run start gate with an abundance of nerves, skill and determination. After increasing her lead in the first sector, she maintained an advantage through every sector. She wins by (-0.12) over Italian Federica Brignone. Norway’s Raghild Mowinckel used the fifth fastest final run to complete the podium in third (+0.22).

Shiffrin overcame a mistake near the end of the race to hold on to her first-run lead and earn her first GS World Championship GS title.

“Yeah, that’s unbelievable,” Shiffrin said in a course-side interview. “I was so nervous, my God. Just … I can’t believe it.”

The heartbreak of the championships occurred when the home nation favorite, who was in second after the first run Tessa Worley fell with the lead in the final sector.

“This is not an easy position, with the home crowd favorite to … I mean, thank you for cheering for me anyway,” Shiffrin said.

Adding to the legacy

It is Shiffrin’s seventh individual world title and 13th medal overall from 16 career world championship starts. She is now 2nd behind German skier Christl Cranz on the all-time list for the most individual world championship medals won by a woman. Cranz won 15 medals in the 1930s.

Notably, Shiffrin was the 2018 Olympic champion and won five of the last six giant slaloms on the World Cup circuit.

The victory makes her only the fourth female skier to win world titles in four different disciplines.

Excitement built near the end of the race

After finishing 13th in a disappointing opening run, Italian star, Marta Bassino was able to ski to a commanding lead. Redeeming herself, Bassino rose seven places before Mowinckel took the race lead. Bronze medalist Mowinckel saw off fourth place Switzerland’s Lara Gut-Behrami before Brignone crossed with a lead and guaranteed herself a podium.

Additional North American performances

Canada’s Valérie Grenier opened the second run and revealed the final Roc de Fer course would offer an appropriate test to decide a world champion. However, the early leader was New Zealand’s, Alice Robinson. Robinson was the seventh woman to attack the second run and held the leader’s chair for the next six racers.

Robinson led until American Nina O’Brien crossed with a considerable (-0.75) lead. O’Brien had experienced damage to her ski edge in the first run but delivered an exceptional final run performance and led for the following six racers. Her second run effort earned her 11th place and valuable World Cup Start List points.

This World Championships is O’Brien’s first big competition after breaking her leg in the Beijing Olympics.

“Being here at the World Championships was a big goal for me and something that I really thought about throughout the whole rehab,” said O’Brien. “This season I was riding a rollercoaster of my own expectations of my results. I had good days, but also many of the disappointing days too, where I wasn’t even sure I would make this team or whether I’d be able to be back in the top 30. To have a result like this today means a lot to me.”

Additionally, the two Canadians Grenier and Britt Richardson finished 20th and 21st and American Kaite Hensien ended the day in 23rd.

Paula Moltzan did not finish her first run. However, starting the race was a feat in itself, as she was racing with her recently broken hand.

“Coming in today, a lot of people have put in a lot of work to make me and help me ski. We have splints on the inside, splits on the outside of the bit, and just trying to make it comfortable enough to make an effort,” said Moltzan. “I pushed out of the start gate and I’m really proud of that. You always want more at World Championships, but we’re just gonna take it day by day and hope for the slalom.”

Results and Analysis of the fastest three and North Americans

Analysis of the top 3 and North Americans

The Associated Press and USST contributed to this report.