Sölden (Austria) (AFP) – Paula Moltzan upstaged feted US teammate Mikaela Shiffrin to win the season-opening women’s World Cup giant slalom in Soelden on Saturday. World bronze medallist Moltzan, fifth fastest after the first of two legs on the Rettenbach slope in the Austrian resort, held her nerve on the second descent for a combined winning time of 2min 14.82sec. After 10 podiums in 13 World Cup seasons, it was the 32-year-old American’s first-ever victory on the elite alpine skiing circuit — on her 149th start.
“It doesn’t really feel real quite yet, but I’m proud, I’m happy,” Moltzan told Eurosport. “It feels like a fairytale right now. I just got a little bit of confidence, I found it deep inside. Before the second run I was telling myself to be brave and take a chance and believe in yourself — and it worked!”
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Moltzan, who switched to Marcel Hirscher’s Van Deer ski race team after last season, added: “I’ve been working a really long time for my first victory, but I never would have expected it would have happened in the first race on new material. It just proves that we’re doing something right.”
Italian-born Albanian Lara Colturi was second, just one-hundredth of a second off the American, with Germany’s Emma Aicher rounding out the podium (+0.52sec). Shiffrin, seeking a record-stretching 111th victory on the World Cup circuit, finished seventh, 0.83sec off Moltzan’s pace. Shiffrin had led Sweden’s Sara Hector by 0.14sec in the first leg, with Switzerland’s Camille Rast in third (+0.37). Austria’s Julia Scheib, winner of last season’s GS crystal globe and defending champion in Soelden, was the biggest casualty of the first run, sliding out high up the course.
Come the second run, Poland’s Maryna Gasienca-Daniel set the pace, clocking an electric 1:06.16, after finishing just 29th in the first leg. Italian Asja Zenere, running 15th, eventually snatched the lead away from the Pole, whose time down the second run remained the quickest of the field. Germany’s Aicher, ninth quickest in the first descent, roared into first place as racing entered the business end of proceedings.
In partly cloudy, bone-chilling conditions, neither Norway’s Mina Fuerst Holtmann nor Sweden’s Estelle Alphand could improve on the aggregate time. But Colturi did, enjoying a 0.51sec advantage at the top of the leaderboard. Moltzan was next up and grabbed the lead by a hair’s breadth over Colturi. All eyes then turned on the top four from the first leg.
First into the start gate was Canada’s Britt Richardson but an error-ridden run saw her finish well down the field. Swiss racer Rast failed to trouble the podium while Sweden’s 2022 Olympic GS champion Hector paid the price for one mistake, finishing behind Moltzan, Colturi, and Aicher. Only Shiffrin was left to come down the Rettenbach slope, and she kicked out of the hut with a 0.59sec lead. But in increasingly foggy conditions, Shiffrin failed to maintain that, sliding wide on one turn, a move that saw her eventually finish seventh.
“It was tough on the second run,” she acknowledged. “It was getting darker and darker, and I handled this the best I could with some errors. It’s a day to celebrate Paula,” added Shiffrin. “She just kicked it right off with a bang this year. It’s history for women’s racing and the most meaningful day for her.”
There was also good news for Slovakia’s 2022 Olympic slalom champion Petra Vlhova, who marked her return to World Cup ski racing after 1,008 days out with injury by finishing 23rd. The men’s World Cup gets under way on Sunday, with racers also tackling a giant slalom in Soelden.
© 2024 AFP
