10/24/2026 08:32:00
Printable Page
10/24 08:30 CDT Shiffrin finishes giant slalom in 7th place as ski racing
season starts in Austria
Shiffrin finishes giant slalom in 7th place as ski racing season starts in
Austria
SOLDEN, Austria (AP) --- Mikaela Shiffrin had to settle for a seventh-placed
finish while fellow American Paula Moltzan enjoyed her first career win as the
Alpine ski racing season opened with a women's giant slalom on Saturday.
Shiffrin led after the first run in Slden, Austria, on the Rettenbach glacier.
But her second run wasn't good enough and sent the Olympic slalom champion down
to seventh.
When Shiffrin crossed the line it was Moltzan who was left celebrating her
first World Cup win at age 32.
"It feels like a fairy tale right now, pretty unreal," Moltzan said.
Lara Colturi of Albania was second. Germany's Emma Aicher, who last season
finished second to Shiffrin in the overall title standings, was third.
Shiffrin shifts focus this season
Shiffrin's sixth World Cup overall title last season equaled the women's record
set in the 1970s by Austrian great Annemarie Moser-Prll. But Shiffrin has
called this campaign an "exploration season" in which she will reduce her
slalom races and focus more on giant slalom and super-G.
The 31-year-old hasn't won a giant slalom race in nearly three years, going
back to December 2023, while her last super-G victory was in 2022.
Shiffrin used to race and win in all disciplines, but she had reduced her
schedule in recent years after she endured terrifying crashes in a downhill in
Cortina in early 2024 and a GS in Killington 10 months later. Her 22 career
victories in giant slalom remain the women's record, as are her 73 wins in
slalom and 110 wins overall.
A men's giant slalom will be held at Slden on Sunday.
___
See AP's full Alpine skiing coverage here
|
