Ski racer Lena Dürr raced to the first giant slalom top placement in her career in Copper Mountain. Just in time for the Olympic season, the slalom specialist is also turning up the heat in her second discipline.
The 34-year-old landed in sixth place after two courageous runs. In the end, she was 1.44 seconds behind the day’s winner Alice Robinson. Julia Scheib (+0.96) from Austria came second, and Norwegian Thea Louise Stjernesund (+1.08) came third.
Lena Dürr had developed a fantastic starting position in the first round. “That was the giant slalom race that was the most fun,” said Lena Dürr after she finished in fourth position, 00.94 seconds behind half-time leader Alice Robinson (New Zealand).
Skinny is actually Slalom specialist
Dürr is actually a slalom specialist and has already achieved 15 podium finishes and one victory (2023 in Spindleruv Mlyn) in the discipline. But last season, the DSV driver gradually approached the world leaders in the giant slalom. At this year’s World Cup opener in Sölden at the end of October, she confirmed this positive trend: The Bavarian started the Olympic season solidly with a 14th place.
For the remaining DSV athletes Emma Aicher, Jessica Hilzinger and Fabiana Dorigo, Saturday did not go according to plan: all three were unable to qualify for the second round. And alpine dominator Mikaela Shiffrin also fell short of expectations at her home game in Colorado – after a first round with major problems, she was only in 18th place at halftime. Even a courageous second round was only enough for cosmetic results: in the end the exceptional athlete finished in 14th place.
Shiffrin, Hilzinger and Aicher have their next chance on Sunday, when the slalom in Copper Mountain takes place. After her slalom premiere victory in Levi, Finland, Aicher is one of the closest favorites.