Robinson wins giant slalom and Shiffrin 14th at Copper Mountain

COPPER MOUNTAIN, Colo. (AP) — Alice Robinson of New Zealand secured a record-setting World Cup giant slalom victory at Copper Mountain on Saturday while Mikaela Shiffrin managed only the 14th best time.

Her fifth career win made Robinson the most successful women’s World Cup winner from a non-European or North American nation, according to the International Ski and Snowboard Federation. She broke a tie with compatriot Claudia Riegler for that honor.

“It’s always really special for me to represent New Zealand, especially in a sport like ski racing that’s so dominated by North America and Europe,” Robinson said. “So I’m really proud of that.”

Robinson led after the first run and perfectly defended her advantage with an equal-best second run on the course set at an altitude of 3,000 meters (9,850 feet) in Colorado.

Julia Scheib of Austria was second and Louise Stjernesund of Norway completed the podium.

Robinson said she was not feeling confident entering the race after her eighth-place finish in Sölden at the season opener last month. Scheib won that race on home snow in Austria.

“I honestly felt pretty gutted about Sölden and I think in the past I’d always let prior poor performances affect my next performance,” she said. “So I really wanted to prove it to myself today that, ‘OK, Sölden wasn’t great, but you can pick yourself up and ski. It doesn’t mean you aren’t going to ski well today.’”

Shiffrin was 2.08 seconds slower than Robinson.

Shiffrin will get another chance to add to her record 103 World Cup wins in front of fans of her home state. On Sunday, the American will seek to add to her 66 wins in slalom, the most by any skier in the World Cup’s 59-year history.

On Friday, Austria’s Stefan Brennsteiner got his first win in men’s giant slalom at age 34.

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