Mikaela Shiffrin wins the second Giant Slalom held in Semmering. After being second in the first run the 27-year-old was able to climb to the top of the podium to beat Lara Gut-Behrami by a mere 0.10 seconds.
Marta Bassino rounded out the podium. She finished 0.47 seconds behind Shiffrin.
Mikaela Shiffrin has claimed 16 World Cup victories in the Giant slalom. She is second, tied with Tessa Worley and Annemarie Moser-Pröll, in the women's list for most World Cup wins in the Giant Slalom behind Vreni Schneider (20).
Shiffrin celebrates her 79th World Cup victory. Semmering and the "Magic Mountain" is a good place for the US skier. She also won two World Cup Giant Slalom events in Semmering, six years ago on 27 and 28 December 2016.
With today's win the Shiffrin is closing one step further the gap with Lindsey Vonn. She is three wins short to tie with Lindsey Vonn (82) as record holder among women. The only man to have won more World Cup events is Ingemar Stenmark (86).
In the overall World Cup, Shiffrin is now clearly ahead of Sofia Goggia. With today's 100 points she was able to extend her lead to 305 points and now has 775 points after 13 races.
“Today I was a bit more nervous than yesterday, because of yesterday but it was still really nice skiing. I got in a good rhythm at the top and tried to carry the momentum for the bottom but it’s not easy. It was very dark and it was very bumpy these two days. I just tried to push. It’s easier when I expect it’s going to be difficult, I can push harder instead of going back”, said Shiffrin.
After setting the fastest time in the first run, the 31-year-old skier from Ticino made two mistakes and despite being behind by half a second after the two first sectors, she put on an incredible finish, approached Shiffrin to within a tenth of a second and finished second.
The Giant Slalom World Champion in Cortina 2021 and bronze medal in Beijing 2022 was on the podium 67 times in the World Cup, sixteen of them in Giant Slalom.
“It was tough. The snow was really bumpy. I skied for sure faster than yesterday but I didn’t have really a good feeling. I just tried to be fast and make the skis run. The second run with that mistake, I just tried to push to the finish line”, said Gut-Behrami.
Exactly fourteen years after being in the podium in Giant Slalom for the first time in Semmering (third in 2008), Lara Gut-Behrami was again in the Top-3 in the Austrian venue.
Today's third place is also the fourth podium in Giant Slalom for Bassino this season. She was on the podium in the last six Giant Slalom races.
“I am really satisfied about these days. I am here again on the podium”, said Bassino.
It's her 19th Giant Slalom podium in the World Cup. Marta Bassino leads the discipline standings. After four races, the Italian has 300 points and leads the Giant Slalom ranking ahead of Mikaela Shiffrin (260). Lara Gut-Behrami is just behind with 252 points.
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