Brignone brings it in Kronplatz giant slalom

By Published On: January 24th, 2017Comments Off on Brignone brings it in Kronplatz giant slalom

For the first time ever, Kronplatz, Italy, hosted a World Cup on Tuesday, becoming the 23rd Italian resort to do so. The women competed in their final giant slalom race before World Championships next month, and Federica Brignone of Italy led the charge, winning with a combined time of 2:10.05. She was joined on the podium by current GS standings leader Tessa Worley and her teammate Marta Bassino, who were 0.55 and 0.57 seconds off the winning pace, respectively.

Skiing with energy and confidence on the challenging slope, Brignone won the first run, and she was able to expand on that lead in the second to take a win in front of her fellow countrymen. The Italian, whose other World Cup giant slalom victory was at Soelden in 2015, believes that steep hills like this play to her strengths–mostly because they scare her.

Photo by Agence Zoom

Photo by Agence Zoom

“When it’s tough, I just try to do my skiing because I’m already preoccupied on how to do the slope, so then I like the ice and today was icy,” Brignone said. “So, I just tried my best really to make every turn after every turn, but in the second run, I felt awful and then, I don’t know if you saw me, but I crossed the finish line and said, ‘No, no. It’s never gonna work.’ And then I saw one, and it was amazing. It was incredible.”

Her winning margin, which was just over half a second, surprised Brignone, but her competition knew she was skiing well. The lone Frenchwoman in the top 30 was happy with second place behind the Italian.

“It’s another podium,” Worley said. “It’s another second place, and Federica really skied so well this last part, and I had a tough time over there, but I mean I fight it ‘til the end and it was totally worth it, so happy with second place.”

Rounding out the podium in third was Bassino, who has podiumed at Soelden before just like Brignone, but doing it in Italy, in front of a home crowd, is a bit more special.

“It’s a dream in Italy with all these people,” Bassino shared. “It’s amazing.”

Worley continues to lead the giant slalom standings with 580 points. American Mikaela Shiffrin, who skied to fifth in Kronplatz, sits in second position with 460 points.

“I had a big struggle with my grip today, and it was really, really bizarre because I’ve never had that kind of feeling where I wasn’t confident standing on my edges, and we used the same setup and the same tuning that really works on this kind of snow, and for some reason, today it was really, really off from the first gate,” Shiffrins said. “So, second run was a bit better, a bit more trusting, but still a bit of a struggle, so I’m happy with a fifth place.”

In the overall standings, Shiffrin continues to hold the lead over Switzerland’s Lara Gut, who finished in fourth place on Tuesday. The American has 1053 points while Gut has 923.

Among the rest of the top 10, there were a few other notable performances. Bernadette Schild of Austria moved from bib 42 to sixth place while Switzerland’s Camille Rast skied from bib 44 to ninth place.

Aside from Shiffrin, independent athlete Megan McJames was the only other American to push out of the start. She did not qualify for a second run.

Women’s action continues next in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, with speed races.


Top 10

  1. Federica Brignone (ITA) – Rossignol / Rossignol / Rossignol
  2. Tessa Worley (FRA) – Rossignol / Rossignol / Rossignol
  3. Marta Bassino (ITA) – Salomon / Salomon / Salomon
  4. Lara Gut (SUI) – Head / Head / Head
  5. Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) – Atomic / Atomic / Atomic
  6. Sara Hector (SWE) – Head / Head / Head
  7. Bernadette Schild (AUT) – Head / Head / Head
  8. Irene Curtoni (ITA) – Rossignol / Rossignol / Rossignol
  9. Camille Rast (SUI) – Head / Head / Head
  10. Viktoria Rebensburg (GER) – Stoeckli / Lange / Marker

Official Results

Rank Bib FIS Code Name Year Nation Run 1 Run 2 Total Time Diff. FIS Points WC Points
 1  14  297601 BRIGNONE Federica 1990 ITA  1:02.17  1:07.88  2:10.05  0.00  100.00
 2  4  196928 WORLEY Tessa 1989 FRA  1:02.32  1:08.28  2:10.60  +0.55  4.14  80.00
 3  1  299276 BASSINO Marta 1996 ITA  1:02.43  1:08.19  2:10.62  +0.57  4.30  60.00
 4  2  516138 GUT Lara 1991 SUI  1:02.63  1:08.18  2:10.81  +0.76  5.73  50.00
 5  3  6535237 SHIFFRIN Mikaela 1995 USA  1:03.60  1:07.54  2:11.14  +1.09  8.21  45.00
 6  25  506399 HECTOR Sara 1992 SWE  1:04.73  1:06.43  2:11.16  +1.11  8.36  40.00
 7  42  56032 SCHILD Bernadette 1990 AUT  1:03.97  1:07.27  2:11.24  +1.19  8.97  36.00
 8  27  296509 CURTONI Irene 1985 ITA  1:04.11  1:07.44  2:11.55  +1.50  11.30  32.00
 9  44  516562 RAST Camille 1999 SUI  1:04.52  1:07.29  2:11.81  +1.76  13.26  29.00
 10  5  205218 REBENSBURG Viktoria 1989 GER  1:03.07  1:08.77  2:11.84  +1.79  13.49  26.00
 11  6  298323 GOGGIA Sofia 1992 ITA  1:03.08  1:08.81  2:11.89  +1.84  13.87  24.00
 12  29  56315 TRUPPE Katharina 1996 AUT  1:04.29  1:07.68  2:11.97  +1.92  14.47  22.00
 13  23  516268 WILD Simone 1993 SUI  1:03.69  1:08.36  2:12.05  +2.00  15.07  20.00
 14  9  296259 MOELGG Manuela 1983 ITA  1:04.10  1:07.96  2:12.06  +2.01  15.15  18.00
 15  47  565471 HROVAT Meta 1998 SLO  1:04.42  1:07.77  2:12.19  +2.14  16.13  16.00
 16  30  516528 MEILLARD Melanie 1998 SUI  1:04.81  1:07.43  2:12.24  +2.19  16.50  15.00
 17  11  425929 MOWINCKEL Ragnhild 1992 NOR  1:04.08  1:08.19  2:12.27  +2.22  16.73  14.00
 18  8  425771 LOESETH Nina 1989 NOR  1:03.82  1:08.47  2:12.29  +2.24  16.88  13.00
 19  17  505679 HANSDOTTER Frida 1985 SWE  1:03.50  1:08.93  2:12.43  +2.38  17.93  12.00
 20  20  297702 MARSAGLIA Francesca 1990 ITA  1:04.07  1:08.41  2:12.48  +2.43  18.31  11.00
 21  26  297910 CURTONI Elena 1991 ITA  1:04.06  1:08.44  2:12.50  +2.45  18.46  10.00
 22  12  105269 GAGNON Marie-Michele 1989 CAN  1:04.28  1:08.77  2:13.05  +3.00  22.61  9.00
 23  18  516280 HOLDENER Wendy 1993 SUI  1:04.79  1:08.33  2:13.12  +3.07  23.13  8.00
 24  22  705423 VLHOVA Petra 1995 SVK  1:04.69  1:08.49  2:13.18  +3.13  23.59  7.00
 25  38  565373 ROBNIK Tina 1991 SLO  1:04.67  1:08.73  2:13.40  +3.35  25.24  6.00
 26  52  565401 BUCIK Ana 1993 SLO  1:04.92  1:08.96  2:13.88  +3.83  28.86  5.00
 27  7  565268 DREV Ana 1985 SLO  1:02.73  1:11.39  2:14.12  +4.07  30.67  4.00
 28  10  55759 KIRCHGASSER Michaela 1985 AUT  1:03.81  1:12.81  2:16.62  +6.57  49.51  3.00
Did not qualify for 2nd run
 59  485749 PROKOPYEVA Aleksandra 1994 RUS
 57  35079 SIMARI BIRKNER Maria Belen 1982 ARG
 55  435334 GASIENICA-DANIEL Maryna 1994 POL
 54  56388 LIENSBERGER Katharina 1997 AUT
 53  425981 SKJOELD Maren 1993 NOR
 51  516344 KOPP Rahel 1994 SUI
 49  106961 MIELZYNSKI Erin 1990 CAN
 48  197616 ALPHAND Estelle 1995 FRA
 46  56199 KAPPAURER Elisabeth 1994 AUT
 45  516394 SUTER Jasmina 1995 SUI
 43  197215 MASSIOS Marie 1992 FRA
 41  56241 SCHNEEBERGER Rosina 1994 AUT
 40  107613 GRENIER Valerie 1996 CAN
 39  197651 DIREZ Clara 1995 FRA
 37  225525 TILLEY Alexandra 1993 GBR
 36  107387 CRAWFORD Candace 1994 CAN
 35  107532 TOMMY Mikaela 1995 CAN
 33  425921 HAUGEN Kristine Gjelsten 1992 NOR
 32  538284 MCJAMES Megan 1987 USA
 31  306249 HASEGAWA Emi 1986 JPN
 19  505886 KLING Kajsa 1988 SWE
 16  55947 VEITH Anna 1989 AUT
 15  355050 WEIRATHER Tina 1989 LIE
Did not finish 2nd run
 28  56174 HAASER Ricarda 1993 AUT
 21  197319 BAUD MUGNIER Adeline 1992 FRA
Did not finish 1st run
 63  465092 CIOCANEL Raluca Georgiana 1996 ROU
 62  785007 JANUSKEVICIUTE Ieva 1994 LTU
 61  35089 SIMARI BIRKNER Macarena 1984 ARG
 60  685018 TSIKLAURI Nino 1993 GEO
 58  506341 WIKSTROEM Emelie 1992 SWE
 56  298124 AGNELLI Nicole 1992 ITA
 50  155699 PAULATHOVA Katerina 1993 CZE
 34  565331 LAVTAR Katarina 1988 SLO
 24  197124 FRASSE SOMBET Coralie 1991 FRA
 13  56217 BRUNNER Stephanie 1994 AUT

 

 

Share This Article

About the Author: Gabbi Hall

A California native, Gabbi moved to Vermont to ski on the NCAA circuit for St. Michael’s College, where she served as team captain and studied journalism. Before joining Ski Racing, she worked as a broadcast TV producer and social media manager in higher education. She can be reached via email at gabbi@skiracing.com