SOELDEN, Austria (AP) — Italian skier Federica Brignone dominated the first run of the season-opening women's World Cup giant slalom Saturday, with Mikaela Shiffrin looming in fifth.
Brignone was a half-second faster than Olympic champion Sara Hector, while three more racers finished within a second of the Italian's lead.
Shiffrin had 0.75 to make up in the second leg later Saturday, after the American had the second-fastest time at the first split before losing several tenths of a second in the second sector.
Former overall champions Petra Vlhova of Slovakia and Lara Gut-Behrami of Switzerland finished just ahead of Shiffrin.
Brignone said she was surprised by her lead, and her near-perfect run, following a week with few training runs on snow.
“I don't know. Last week wasn't good with the weather so I didn't know where I stand, but today I'm very happy,” the Italian said.
While setting the record of 88 career World Cup wins, Shiffrin won seven giant slaloms last season including the last five.
On Saturday, Shiffrin can become the third skier — and the first in 25 years — to win six straight World Cup giant slaloms. Only Deborah Compagnoni with eight in 1997-98 and Ingemar Stenmark with 14 between 1978 and 1980 had more consecutive GS wins.
However, giant slalom is the most competitive discipline on the women’s circuit, with no skier winning the season title in consecutive years since Anna Veith accomplished the feat in 2014-15.
Brignone won the GS season title in 2019-20, when she also lifted the big crystal globe for the best skier overall.
The Italian had her first of 21 career wins in Soelden eight years ago and can become the oldest winner of a women’s World Cup GS at 33 years and 106 days, surpassing Anita Wachter’s mark. The Austrian was 32 years and 319 days when she won a GS in Lienz in 1999.
The race took place in sunny conditions under a blue sky.
Due to mild autumn temperatures in recent weeks, organizers had to build the race track on the glacier with snow preserved from last spring and artificial snow from 22 cannons along the slope. Light overnight snowfall also covered the rocky hill beside the race course.
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Eric Willemsen on Twitter: https://twitter.com/eWilmedia
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AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/skiing
