16:35
Maria Therese Tviberg (NOR)
From start to finish, Maria Therese Tviberg ran her course in the sand. The Norwegian doesn’t run the skis parallel, but skis in a slightly sheared position and brakes with the inner ski. A technically extremely weak run! It’s almost three seconds behind at the finish and that puts them in last place.
16:34
Wendy Holdener (SUI)
Weny Holdener made a strong showing in the second Levi Slalom and would like to take this momentum into the giant slalom. Holdener drives properly up to the middle part of the steep slope, then the Swiss has too much distance to the gates. She was eight tenths behind in the last section, taking twelfth place.
16:31
Catherine Liensberger (AUT)
Siebenhofer and troops did not present themselves particularly well for the ÖSV, does Liensberger do it better? Yes, the Austrian is more aggressive than her two compatriots and is much more active. On the steep slope she is late with a couple of goals, but catches up and is less than a second behind, resulting in sixth place – very good!
16:29
Catherine Troupe (AUT)
Two ÖSV Katharinas are coming! On the flat, the second Austrian loses a little time when she releases the ski too late. On the steep slope, Troupe doesn’t make a big blunder, but it’s clearly too undynamic. So she leaves only her Polish predecessor behind.
16:27
Maryna Gasienica Daniel (POL)
Gasienica Daniel starts well on the flat, but on the steep slopes she stays on the brakes too long and is too cautious. At the finish, the Pole initially takes over the Red Lantern with 1.83 seconds on Sara Hector.
16:25
Thea Louise Stjernesund (NOR)
Stjernesund shows that it can be better with a lot of wind in the upper flat part and drives a better upper part than Siebenhofer. But on the steep slope, the Norwegian does not complete the curves quite smoothly and also makes a mistake. The result is one and a half seconds behind.
16:23
Ramona Siebenhofer (AUT)
The first Austrian starts with a bit of wind in the upper part, the gusts throw her off plan and Siebenhofer acts too passively, just can’t find the right line. Because she also made a mistake on the steep slope, 1.64 seconds and the penultimate place at the finish line are still okay.
16:21
Michelle Gisin (SUI)
After a short break we continue with the second Swiss woman. Michelle Gisin seems to need a little more time after a change of outfitter in the summer, drives a restless and technically unclean run and takes the finish line 1.76 seconds behind.
16:18
Coralie Frasse Sombet (FRA)
The first fall! After a left turn, the edge of the inner ski grabs too early, Frasse Sombet is catapulted into the air and lands on his back. In doing so, she concedes another goal, but gets up again quickly herself and doesn’t seem to have done much – apart from a few bruises – from the fall.
16:16
Lara Gut-Behrami (SUI)
Lara Gut-Behrami is aggressive! The Swiss is very agile and dynamic in the giant slalom, only building up a little too much behind on the steep slope. 43 hundredths to the leading Hector are good and put Gut-Behrami in third place.
16:15
Valerie Grenier (CAN)
For Valérie Grenier, the first race ended prematurely. With a right turn, the Canadian loses the pressure on the outside ski and slips over the inside ski, missing the next goal.
16:13
Tessa Worley (FRA)
With a run of just over 50 seconds, which is actually quite short, the time gaps are not too small, even for the favorites. Now comes the red jersey, but Tessa Worley also has to line up further back. The Frenchwoman drives weakly, especially on the steep slope, only just ahead of Shiffrin, who also drove weakly.
16:11
Sara Hector (SWE)
Exactly the opposite drives Sara Hector: active, aggressive and attacking! The reigning Olympic champion brings a strong ride from top to bottom to the finish line and takes the lead with a strong lead of almost four tenths.
16:10
Mikaela Shiffrin (USA)
The local hero should arrive after the two slalom victories with a big chest. Although Shiffrin skis a largely flawless run, he is far too passive in this and does not pull the ski well enough. She finishes about a second behind – disappointing for the American.
16:08
Marta Bassino (ITA)
The giant slalom World Cup winner of the season before last is on her way. After a strong start, Bassino almost slipped away from the inside position on the steep slope, but caught himself. The Italian did not overcome the last wave optimally either, but still took third place with a slight deficit of 21 hundredths.
16:06
Ragnhild Mowinckel (NOR)
But how much is this time from Vlhová worth? After Brignone’s less than satisfactory run, Mowinckel is the first yardstick and starts strong. Shortly before the finish, the Norwegian loses a few hundredths, but eight of them remain and Mowinckel takes the lead.
16:04
Petra Vlhova (SVK)
Petra Vlhová shows how it can be done better! The Slovak is at the gates early and is much more active than her predecessor Brignone. Going down without a single mistake, Vlhová has a lead of more than a second on the Italian – strong!
16:02
Federica Brignone (ITA)
Federica Brignone starts the first giant slalom with just below minus temperatures and mostly sunny weather. She does not show a flawless run on a difficult course and is not completely satisfied with it at the finish. 53.88 seconds is the first target time.
15:59
circle of favourites
With Tessa Worley and Mikaela Shiffrin, two favorites from the narrow circle have already been named. Petra Vlhová, who came third twice in the slalom in Levi, and the Olympic champion from Beijing, Sara Hector, should also be mentioned. The best giant slalom athlete of the 2020/21 season was not quite as strong last winter, but Marta Bassino can still be at the front again. The forerunners are currently on their way, in a few moments we can start!
15:56
Reigning giant slalom World Cup winner
The latest winner of the small giant slalom crystal ball is Tessa Worley, the Frenchwoman boasted three giant slalom wins and two more podium finishes last winter and is accordingly one of the favorites today. Mikaela Shiffrin can slip on the yellow jersey because the American has won the two previous races – two slaloms.
15:52
Schmotz and Hilzinger for the DSV
Two giant slalom riders are listed in the German team: Marlene Schmotz and Jessica Hilzinger. Getting into the second round and thus finishing in the points would already be an extremely strong performance for both of them. Schmotz did this once last season at the World Cup opener in Sölden and ended up 28th.
15:47
The ÖSV is missing a giant slalom specialist
The ÖSV women don’t have an easy time at the moment, the top athletes are currently driving with other nations. In giant slalom, the situation is even worse than in the other disciplines, last season the ÖSV was not able to celebrate a place on the podium. Katharina Liensberger missed this one by the narrowest of margins, more than a year ago she finished fourth in Sölden. Katharina Truppe showed the most consistent giant slalom performances last winter, but she was never able to compete at the top.
15:42
Swiss women want to show themselves stronger
In the giant slalom last winter, from the Swiss point of view, not much went well. There was no victory for a Swiss woman in the World Cup. Lara Gut-Behrami, who is still the reigning world champion, only came second once in the World Cup, but placed third at the Olympics, which was the highlight of the season. Michelle Gisin finished third in the giant slalom substitute for Killington in Courchevel, otherwise there was no Swiss woman on the giant slalom podium last winter.
15:35
Giant slalom start
Actually, the giant slalom specialists should have started in Sölden, but the weather thwarted this plan. The Sölden giant slalom will be held at Semmering at the end of the year. So today’s competition in Killington marks the start of the giant slalom, which will be opened by Federica Brignone.
15:30
Warm welcome
Happy Saturday afternoon for the first women’s giant slalom this season! At 4pm European time the technicians will be throwing themselves down the slope, which will mean 10am at the Killington venue.