SESTRIERE, Italy – Federica Brignone claimed victory in the first World Cup giant slalom since winning gold at the world championships, while Mikaela Shiffrin finished 25th in her return to the event after nearly 12 weeks.
Despite battling illness in the days leading up to the race, Brignone edged out New Zealand’s Alice Robinson by 0.40 seconds on Friday, just over a week after the two finished in the same order at worlds. Robinson retained her lead in the discipline standings.
“I felt better yesterday, and I knew I could put together two strong runs,” Brignone said. “I didn’t ski well on the first flat section in my opening run, so in the second, I focused on maintaining a higher rhythm and making clean turns.”
Shiffrin, who was 18th after the first run, ended up 4.65 seconds behind Brignone.
“My biggest step today was simply pushing out of the gate,” Shiffrin said. “It’s a big step from not racing at all. But when you’re used to competing for podiums, it doesn’t feel like much progress.”
The American, who holds a record 99 World Cup wins, hadn’t raced in GS since a November crash in Killington left her with severe oblique trauma and a deep puncture wound. The injury pushed her down to 11th in the rankings, costing her a top-seven starting position.
Shiffrin, wearing bib No. 8, admitted she still doesn’t feel completely like herself but is content to be back on the course. “For the rest of the season, my goal is just to earn enough points to stay in the top 30 in GS,” she said. “It’s a different position than fighting for podiums, but that’s where I am right now.”
Norway’s Thea Louise Stjernesund finished third, 1.57 seconds behind Brignone. Meanwhile, Paula Moltzan, who was third after the first run, slipped to sixth after a mistake in a left turn. Defending overall champion Lara Gut-Behrami failed to finish her opening run.
This marked Shiffrin’s first World Cup race since winning the team combined event with Breezy Johnson at worlds, where she also placed fifth in slalom. She skipped the GS event there, citing “PTSD-like” fears.
“A lot of people might say, ‘Just go for it, just ski, it doesn’t matter,’ but ski racing requires strategy, and it does matter,” she said.
After injuring her left knee in a downhill crash last January, Shiffrin had limited herself to slalom races for the remainder of the 2023-24 season. She had started this season with a fifth-place finish in the GS opener in Austria before her Killington crash.
Shiffrin holds a women’s record 22 career World Cup GS wins and previously claimed the season title in 2019 and 2023.
Friday’s race replaced a canceled GS event from Tremblant, Quebec. Another GS is set for Saturday, followed by a slalom on Sunday.
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