Who is skiing, when and how to watch the Semmering giant slalom

Tomorrow, December 28th, will be the originally scheduled Semmering women’s giant slalom. After today’s first run, plagued with holes in the snow surface, the temperatures dropped slightly, and the second course was set to prevent severe disintegration. The end result was exciting entertainment. The last person to ski, Mikaela Shiffrin, won the race. 

Tonight’s forecast looks reasonable. If Semmering remains mostly clear, the surface should freeze, and the first run could be a better race surface than today. However, today was a great event, and there is no reason to expect a different outcome tomorrow. 

No matter what the snow conditions are, we will have another World Cup GS winner.

The current women’s GS field is obviously very competitive. On any given day, it is not surprising when any of the first seven women win. As a matter of fact, a victory by any of the season’s best eight would surprise no one. Certainly, others are capable of winning, which would be an eye-opener. Shiffrin’s experience tomorrow will differ from today. For tomorrow she drew bib seven rather than one, but who knows, the outcome could be similar. However, it will be exciting.

After today’s race, the leader of the 2022-23 season giant slalom standings remains Italy’s Marta Bassino, followed by Slovakia’s Petra Vlhová and Switzerland’s Lara Gut-Behrami. 

North Americans racing on December 28th

Eight women will represent North America. Canada has two entries, and the USA has six. The two USA athletes who qualified today both finished in the top ten. Shiffrin did win, but the quickly emerging Paula Moltzan finished 10th. Today because of course degradation, there was almost no opportunity to qualify with a start number higher than 30. The only women who didn’t qualify with bibs 30 or less were two women who did not finish and one who was disqualified.

It would be great if tomorrow brought better opportunities for the higher bibs to qualify, but only time will tell.

It is worth noting that the eight North American women who will race are all capable of World Cup success. Five of them have already scored GS points this season. 

North Americans on the December 28th Semmering GS start list

• Bib 7 Mikaela Shiffrin, USST, Burke Mountain Academy, Atomic, Oakley
• Bib 11, Paula Moltzan, USST, Ski and Snowboard Club Vail, Rossignol/LOOK
• Bib 18, Valerie Grenier, ACA, Club de Ski Mont Tremblant, Rossignol/LOOK
• Bib 30, Nina O’Brien, USST, Burke Mountain Academy, Rossignol/LOOK
• Bib 35, Britt Richardson, ACA, Calgary Alpine Racing Club, Dynastar, Lange, Look, Oakley, Swix
• Bib 57, Katie Hensien, USST, University of Denver, Rowmark Ski Academy, Rossignol/LOOK
• Bib 60, Ava Sunshine, USST, Ski and Snowboard Club Vail, Atomic, Swix, ASP
• Bib 64, Stella Johansson, Independent, Aspen Valley Ski, and Snowboard Club. Atomic

The women’s first run starts at 4:0o am Eastern Time and 1:00 am on the West Coast. Additionally, the second run will begin at 7:00 am Eastern Time and 4:00 am on the West Coast. We remind you a full replay is available after the race.

In the USA, the women’s World Cups in Semmering and all other races hosted in Austria are available on Peacock.

First run Start list and race program for December 28th, Semmering women’s giant slalom

Program for December 28th Semmering women’s giant slalom