World Cup start in Sölden
Ski ace achieves coup with first World Cup victory – Shiffrin beaten
Updated 10/25/2025 – 2:10 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
Julia Scheib has never won a World Cup – until now. The Austrian prevailed against strong competition.
In the first round of the first World Cup race of the season, the Austrian Julia Scheib surprised the competition in Sölden and took the lead in the giant slalom. The 27-year-old had the best prospects for her first World Cup victory in front of her home crowd – and her nerves played a role.
Scheib was able to celebrate after crossing the finish line in 2:16.51 and secured first place ahead of Paula Moltzan (+0.58). The Austrian team radio then rang out: “Super cool. Great job.” The American Moltzan showed an incredibly strong performance and secured second place. Third place went to someone who is experienced: Lara Gut-Behrami (+1.11). The 34-year-old gave everything in Sölden and fought her way back on the slopes when she temporarily lost the ideal line. The Swiss woman’s courage was rewarded.
US star Mikaela Shiffrin was sixth after the first run and bravely tackled her second run. However, the conditions on the slopes were not easy, which meant that the World Cup record holder initially lost time. However, the double Olympic champion made up time again in the lower section. At the finish she cheered and shouted her joy at the nevertheless good run. It was enough for sixth place (+1.42).
Things also went well for the Americans Nina O’Brien and AJ Hurt. Both showed a strong run and were happy together at the finish area about their successful start to the season. Nina O’Brien said afterwards on ZDF: “I’m really happy. The snow felt very good. Our team is rocking it.
The best German after the first run was Lena Dürr. She took 12th place and also showed an appealing performance in the second round. Things went well for the DSV ace, especially in the first section of the route, but Dürr lost time again on the steep slope. She ended up in 14th place (+2.24).
In addition to Dürr, another DSV ace was there: Emma Aicher ended up in 28th place (+ 4.07): She said afterwards on ZDF: “I’ll take a few points, that’s always good. I’ll take my skiing with me and work on it. I know what I have to do.”