Federica Brignone (ITA) shook off pre-season stress to show her unrivalled touch on soft, wet snow as she flew to a dramatic giant slalom victory in the opening race of the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup season in Sölden, Austria.
The Italian who recovered from early mistakes on both runs found a rhythm that no one could match to push New Zealander Alice Robinson (+0.17) into second. While home hero Julia Scheib (AUT) sent the record 15,800-strong crowd into a frenzy of delight as she grabbed her first ever podium place, finishing 1.08 seconds behind the leader.
In the absence of last season’s champion Lara Gut-Behrami (SUI), who made the brave if shock call not to race after deciding she was not physically ready, it looked for a long time as if Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) would claim the 98th World Cup win of her career.
But after dominating run one, the USA superstar admitted she lost her “timing” in the tricky afternoon conditions as she faded to end fifth.
There were no such issues for Brignone, with Robinson – second after the morning run – among those who knew they were in trouble once the snow softened.
“When it's like this is she's such a touch skier and when it's a little bit bumpy and there’s slightly ‘peely’ snow she always pulls out some really epic runs,” Robinson said. “When she went before me, I knew she was going to be fast.”
So it proved. Not that Brignone found it easy. “Five really bad turns” at the top put her on the back foot, but crucially she did not “overreact”.
“The upper part of the pitch was really bumpy, and, yeah, not easy. But from there on, I felt better,” Brignone said. “I started skiing really good and pushing, and I was in the rhythm finally, and I could take this speed to the finish, and that was my force today, fantastic.”
The Italian, who at 34 is now the oldest ever winner of a women’s GS World Cup, had great form on paper, having won both the concluding GS races last season. But after declaring “summer is made for summer” and not skiing for almost five months, Brignone admitted she has been struggling for self-belief in the run-up to the season-starter.
“I was really nervous, really stressed. I freaked out. The first race is always like, ‘Oh my God, I don't know what to do’. And you don't know what to do. (But) after the first run, I said, OK I know I'm good again.”
Too good for Robinson who once again finished second. The 22-year-old has now finished runner-up in four of her past five GS races. A statistics that has its up and down sides.
“It's definitely gonna be a goal to get back to winning a race,” Robinson said with a wry smile. “But I mean I can't really complain, starting a year off with the podium is always great.
“I always struggled a little bit when the conditions were like they were in the second run, quite bumpy and really a lot of moisture in the snow. So, I was really happy that I kept really solid and skated decent run, and that kept me in a position for a podium.”
Five years ago a 17-year-old Robinson shocked the ski world by grabbing her first World Cup crown in Sölden – a time that “feels like a lifetime ago”. While Scheib’s third place was not quite as dramatic, it was quite a start for a skier who lined-up with only five top-10 individual World Cup finishes to her name in six years.
“I was dreaming of it really, because the training was really good. Techniques, basics, really good, safe skiing, fast skiing and, yeah, I thought it's possible,” Scheib said, before reflecting on what it meant to a crowd starved of recent success in the women’s technical disciplines.
“Super important for the whole team because the last podium, the last win, was a long time ago, she said. “I'm super happy to have my first podium here. To have this experience at home is so special. And yeah I think as an athlete, you want these emotions.”
Shiffrin knows just how she feels but it was not to be for her on a day in which she felt she lacked a “bit of intensity”.
“The second run I was kind of trying to address that (the lack of intensity) and missed the timing of it,” Shiffrin said. “And at least for me, if I miss the timing then I'm just kind of fighting against the tracks the whole way down. And this hill if you're fighting it then it's so slow, and if you're like really rolling with it, then it's just it feels so easy, and then it ends up being fast. And I've experienced both sides of the coin.”
Despite the slight disappointment of their star performer’s final result, it was still a stellar day for Team USA. Katie Hensien and Nina O Brien, two skiers starting their first World races in way over a year, led the charge as the stars and stripes had four skiers in the top-11.
“Unbelievable,” was Shiffrin’s reaction after Hensein started with bib No.47, jumped up to 17th after run one and then produced the quickest time of the afternoon to end up fourth. O Brien, who was on the comeback trail after two leg breaks in little more than two-and-a-half years, was almost as good. Racing in bib No.28 she finished seventh.
“It’s actually an incredible day,” Shiffrin added.
Things were of course far tougher for Gut-Behrami. Just 24 hours after revealing her “dream” is to retire from racing at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, she tearfully pulled out after the morning inspection.
The defending overall, giant slalom and super-G champion who has struggled with knee issues during the off-season, felt she was simply not in a position to risk her health.
“It’s a really hard decision but I’m not feeling 100%,” Gut-Behrami said. “I thought that racing would help me and I would forget everything that happened in the last month and get my confidence back but it’s not like that.
“You cannot go to the start and feel 90% or just have doubts about (whether) you’re healthy or have in your mind that it could be the day to injure yourself.”
“I have to say I always admired athletes that say ‘I cannot do that’. I don’t want injury to stop my career,” the tearful Swiss star added. “It’s hard because I love this race. I love to race but I can race more races in November.”
Gut-Behrami is likely to target the next women’s GS World Cup stop in Killington, USA on 30 November for her return to action. Before that the slalom skiers take centre stage, with races in Levi, Finland (16 November) and back in Austria for the Gurgl slalom on 23 November.
