COPPER MOUNTAIN, Colorado ¨C New Zealand¡¯s Alice Robinson claimed her fifth World Cup victory with a commanding performance in the women¡¯s giant slalom in Copper Mountain, Colorado, on Saturday.
The 23-year-old, who led after the first run, held her nerve in the second run to secure her 18th World Cup podium in front of a noisy American crowd.
Austria¡¯s Julia Scheib finished second, 0.96 seconds behind Robinson, narrowly missing out on a second World Cup win. Norway¡¯s Thea Louise Stjernesund completed the podium in third place.
¡°It was definitely a day of two different runs. The first one I felt in control and so smooth, the second felt out of control, like I was recovering the whole time. I was pretty shocked to finish first,¡± Robinson said.
¡°I was really not feeling that confident coming into this race, so I¡¯m really proud to have followed my instincts today.¡±
American Mikaela Shiffrin, the five-time overall World Cup champion, finished 14th after a poor first run.
The 30-year-old has been rebuilding her form after suffering a puncture wound in her abdomen and severe muscle trauma in a crash in Killington, Vermont, a year ago.
Shiffrin, who secured her 103rd World Cup win in Austria last week, is a key hope for the U.S. team ahead of the Milano-Cortina Olympics in February.
The Copper Mountain event is scheduled to continue on Sunday with the women¡¯s slalom. The circuit then moves to Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, next month.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.