Austrian skier Scheib dominates World Cup season opener to beat runner-up Moltzan; Shiffrin 4th

SÖLDEN, Austria (AP) — Austrian skier Julia Scheib dominated the season-opening women’s World Cup giant slalom Saturday, denying runner-up Paula Moltzan what would have been the American’s first career win.

Moltzan led a strong showing by the U.S. ski team, which saw Mikaela Shiffrin place fourth and Nina O’Brien sixth, while there four more Americans in the top 20.

Scheib built on her big first-run lead of 1.28 seconds to win the race by 0.58, giving the Austrian women’s team its first victory in a World Cup GS since Eva-Maria Brem triumphed in a race in Slovakia in March 2016.

Lara Gut-Behrami finished 1.11 behind in third, and Shiffrin trailed by 1.42.

“A load of thousands of kilos has dropped off my shoulders, I was so relieved to see the green light,” said Scheib, who had not won a World Cup race before but finished third in the season opener last year.

“The (second) run felt terrible, the first run I was more at ease. But that’s probably normal if you are the last racer standing at the start,” Scheib said.

Moltzan said she was “really excited” with matching her career-best result.

“I knew I was skiing well coming into the race, but skiing well in training and skiing well in the race are two different aspects of the sport,” Moltzan said.

Valérie Grenier of St. Isidore, Ont., was the top Canadian in 11th while Britt Richardson of Canmore, Alta., was 20th.

Scheib had surprised the pre-race favorites in the opening run with a near-perfect race line in the steep middle section of the course before finishing 1.28 seconds ahead of Moltzan in second.

Shiffrin started only 20th due to a drop in the GS rankings following her injury layoff last season. The American improved to sixth after the opening run and gained two more spots in the final run of a confidence-boosting performance.

“There are always some things to improve but I was determined, I was fighting. I felt like I was just doing a really solid job. I am not satisfied, but happy,” said Shiffrin, who is the 2018 Olympic GS champion and holds the women’s record of 22 World Cup wins in the discipline.

Shiffrin suffered from lingering post-traumatic stress disorder following a crash at her home giant slalom in Killington, Vermont, in November, where she sustained a puncture wound and severe damage to her oblique muscles, and said she was not back at 100 percent yet.

“I am getting closer. The final step is adding the race mentality,” Shiffrin said.

In the first run, Sofia Goggia fell after she hooked a gate with her right arm and spun around, but the 2018 Olympic downhill champion got up quickly and seemed unhurt.

The Italian team had already lost last year’s race winner and overall champion Federica Brignone and former GS champion Marta Bassino through injuries.

A men’s giant slalom on the same hill is scheduled for Sunday.

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Eric Willemsen on X: https://x.com/eWilmedia

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AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing