Sölden Women’s podium GEPA Photos Amir Beganovic

Thrilling showdown in Sölden: Gut-Behrami’s record-tying victory and global giants shine in women’s giant slalom!

Today, Switzerland’s Lara Gut-Behrami shined brilliantly. The veteran Swiss star used the fastest second run to capture her 38th career World Cup victory, her record-tying third in Sölden. Thirty-two-year-old Gut-Behrami was 4th on the first run, but her brilliant, fastest second run gave her a (-0.02) victory over first-run leader, Italian Federica Brignone. Gut-Behrami trailed the Italian by (+0.73) after the opening leg but made up the time with a bold second run.

Gut-Behrami became the third skier to claim at least one women’s World Cup win in 13 different seasons. Austria’s Renate Goetschl (14) and American standout Lindsey Vonn (13) previously accomplished the feat.

“I’m happy as it’s my third win in ten years,” said Gut-Behrami, a former overall champion who previously won the season opener on the Sölden glacier in 2013 and 2016. “It’s nice; it’s an amazing slope. I really like to ski in Sölden. It was a tough one today,” she said.

With the third-best second run, Slovakia’s Petra Vlhova earned her first podium of the season with third place. The takeaway is that women’s giant slalom is better than ever and ready to supply a season of excitement.

Mikaela Shiffrin didn’t start her season with a victory but did deliver world-class skiing. Today’s top North American was second (+0.21) behind Italy’s Marta Bassino when she finished the race and ended 6th. She trailed Gut-Behrami’s best combined time by 1.40 seconds. It is worth remembering that Mikaela assumes she will build into the season and be her best later in the year.

“Some positives from the day and some things to improve, for sure,” Shiffrin said. “Of course, we are going to town to look at the video and see what I can improve for the next GS race.”

It is great to see that Canada’s Valerie Grenier is skiing as well as ever. Grenier was eighth after the first run. She crossed the 2nd run finish leading with a (-081) advantage. However, starting immediately after her was the Italian superstar Marta Bassino. Bassino’s second run was (-0.09) faster than Grenier’s and took a (-0.26) lead. Grenier finishes the day one place behind Shiffrin in 7th. Bassino finishes 5th overall, one spot ahead of the mighty American.

In the top ten, nine nations had representation, with only Italy having two on the list. This bodes well for an exciting season of nail-biting competition in women’s giant slalom. Notably, all the women who qualified for the second run finished the race on the challenging Rettenbach course.

Stiffel US Ski Team Member Paula Moltzan is one of the best giant slalom skiers in the world but struggled to show it during her first run. However, she benefited from a tremendous second-run start position. Moltzan took advantage, delivering the 2nd fastest second run to take the lead when she crossed. She took her place in the Audi leader’s chair and after the first 15 racers had finished, she was still there. Eventually, Slovenia’s Ana Bucik (14th after the first run) tied Moltzan to share the lead. However, when she left its comfort because New Zealand’s Alice Robinson took the outright lead, Moltzan had already moved up 15 positions, eventually finishing tied for 11th.

Although the 20-year-old Canadian Britt Richardson did not have the second run she hoped for, she delivered quality skiing and finished 24th, starting her 2023-24 campaign scoring World Cup points. This young skier will continue to show intense skiing throughout the new season.

Notably, after the first run, Ragnhild Mowinckel became the first skier to be disqualified under a new rule that forbids the use of the potentially harmful fluorinated wax in the pre-race preparation of skis.

The race occurred in sunny conditions under a blue sky and was visited by 15,400 spectators, a record for the women’s event in Sölden. The men’s GS is scheduled for Sunday.

Race results from the October 28th Women’s Sölden GS and analysis of top three and North American finishers

Analysis of the top 3 and North American finishers

Stay tuned as the story evolves

Sources include the AP