Shiffrin, Brignone run away with run one in Aspen

ASPEN, Colo. – American star Mikaela Shiffrin sits in the lead after run one of giant slalom at the Aspen Winternational. Starting with bib 4 on a terrain-filled and icy track, Shiffrin skied composed and calculated as she set the pace time of 59.04 seconds, leading Soelden winner Frederica Brignone of Italy by a slim 0.11 seconds.

“I felt totally solid skiing,” Shiffrin said of her first run. “Hopefully I can just take that same mentality into the second run.”

Brignone, starting bib 1, came out of the gate firing but made a slight error over Strawpile and was bounced off her line. “A lot of the girls are attacking more over the knoll, but then not being able to absorb it quite so well,” Shiffrin said of her competitors. The American took a more conservative approach to Strawpile, and was able to attack in the following gates as opposed to other racers who struggled to recover.

Stitting a distant third, 0.96 seconds back, is Swiss skier Lara Gut, who also fell victim to the challenging terrain and blind knolls of the first run.

American superstar Lindsey Vonn made her first World Cup start of the season, but she was unable to finish after losing a ski midway down her run. She came into a left-footer leaning a bit inside and as she quickly transferred pressure to the outside ski, the binding released instantaneously. Vonn went for a slow slide into the nets, but she was not injured.

“To be honest, I don’t really know (what happened),” said Vonn. “It’s never happened to me in a race before, so to have it happen in Aspen is definitely disappointing.”

Canada’s Marie-Michelle Gagnon sits in 17th place after run one, and American independent racer Megan McJames finished in 39th, failing to qualify for the second run.

Unofficial First Run Results