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01/20 07:50 CST Austrian skier Scheib wins giant slalom as Brignone returns and
Shiffrin shows positive signs
Austrian skier Scheib wins giant slalom as Brignone returns and Shiffrin shows
positive signs
SAN VIGILIO DI MAREBBE, Italy (AP) --- Austrian skier Julia Scheib is heading
into the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics as the racer to beat in giant slalom.
Defending overall World Cup champion Federica Brignone is back, though, after a
long injury layoff. And Mikaela Shiffrin is making ground in the discipline,
too.
Scheib claimed her fourth giant slalom victory of the season Tuesday, moving up
from third after the opening run to finish 0.37 seconds ahead of Camille Rast
and 0.46 ahead of defending Olympic champion Sara Hector, who led after the
first run at the Kronplatz resort.
Shiffrin placed fourth, 0.86 behind, and Brignone was sixth, 1.23 back.
The 27-year-old Scheib had never won a World Cup race before this season but
now she leads the discipline standings with a comfortable margin of 139 points
ahead of Rast.
Shiffrin, the American winner of a record 107 World Cup races, has not finished
on the podium in giant slalom in exactly two years --- since before her crash
in Killington, Vermont, in Nov. 2024.
Shiffrin won the Kronplatz race three times, including in 2023 when with
victory No. 83 she broke the all-time women's wins record previously held by
Lindsey Vonn.
It was Brignone's first race since breaking multiple bones in her left leg in
April --- which resulted in two surgeries and months of rehab.
"When I stuck my poles out I said to myself, ?I'm not sure if I'm ready.' My
hand was shaking," Brignone said after the opening run. "I started off quite
rigid, which makes it tough in these conditions. But then I remembered to
breathe after the first checkpoint and then it went a bit better."
Brignone is hoping to compete for host Italy at the Olympics, which open Feb. 6
with the women skiing in nearby Cortina d'Ampezzo.
Sofia Goggia, another Italian, lost control midway down and didn't finish her
first run.
Nina O'Brien had fast splits in her second run before losing control on the
steep slope midway down. The American was spun around and slid down before
coming to a stop near the safety netting. She got right back up and appeared to
avoid serious injury.
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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
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