Worley wows Slovenian crowd with GS win

By Published On: January 7th, 2017Comments Off on Worley wows Slovenian crowd with GS win

Maribor is notorious for being one of the easier slopes on the women’s World Cup circuit, but that doesn’t make the Slovenian venue a cake walk. The hill, conditions and course sets on Saturday still managed to knock out top athletes like Lichtenstein’s Tina Weirather, Italy’s Federica Brignone and Austria’s Anna Veith. Still, at the end of the day, fans saw one of the usual suspects atop the podium.

World Cup giant slalom leader Tessa Worley took the victory, finishing with a combined time of 2:16.96. The Frenchwoman was followed by Italian powerhouse Sofia Goggia, who was 0.16 seconds off of the pace. Switzerland’s Lara Gut rounded out the podium in third, 0.25 seconds away from the win.

It’s been a big fight in giant slalom standings this season with Worley, Gut and Mikaela Shiffrin all winning giant slalom races–not to mention athletes like Goggia and the strong Italian women’s team, who could podium, and even win, on any given day. Worley likes the intensity of the competition.

“It’s intense, but it’s awesome because it’s only in skiing that you can feel this feeling and I don’t know, I was so happy at the end to see that I was winning,” she said. “It’s a great fight, and I’m really happy that all the girls are wanting to win every race and making it so hard. I’m happy because it pushes me to get to my best level.”

While she walked away happy, the top Italian left with more drive to get to the top spot.

“I’m pretty happy with today’s podium actually because it is an important race because it is the last one of Tina Maze, which was my idol in past years, so I was really touched and excited for that,” Goggia shared. “I thought after the first run I was going to win, but still it’s okay like that.”

After first run, Goggia was only 0.07 seconds behind Shiffrin, the first run leader, putting her within striking distance of the victory. However, the second run set only suited a handful of athletes with the majority of them coming down in the red including the Italian and Shiffrin, who finished the day in fourth.

“I felt that I was charging in some spots,” Shiffrin said of her second run. “Super fast course and I didn’t quite match the speed that I was carrying, so I’m still learning. All in all, it’s not a terrible day.”

Even though she did not land on the podium, it was a strong result that keeps her in the lead of the overall standings over Gut. The Swiss athlete was happy to be on the podium, but desperately wants back on top.

“It’s always cool to be on the podium,” she said. “I had a little bit too many mistakes in the first run, so I can be not really happy, but the podium is always great, so take that and keep on working and hopefully, soon I will get the feeling of winning again.”

MARIBOR,SLOVENIA,07.JAN.17 - ALPINE SKIING - FIS World Cup, giant slalom, ladies. Image shows the rejoicing of Tina Maze (SLO). Keywords: Stoeckli, farewell. Photo: GEPA pictures/ Christian Walgram

While the day was about the victor, it was also about Tina Maze. In a farewell to fans in her home country, the living legend skied one final World Cup run. Wearing bib 34, the two-time Olympic gold medalist skied the course with one pit stop along the way to hug her coaches. She finished by walking across the finish line, skis raised in the air victoriously as she heads into retirement. Of course, Maze recently told the AP that she’s not completely taking the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games off of the list of possibilities, so this race could be more of a “see you later” than a “goodbye” from the Slovenian.

Two other American women pushed out of the start gate. Resi Stiegler and Megan McJames did not qualify for a second run.

Shiffrin now leads the World Cup overall standings with 843 points. Gut sits behind her in second with 643 points while Worley moves into third with 563 points.

Women’s World Cup action continues tomorrow with a slalom race at Maribor.


Top 10

  1. Tessa Worley (FRA) – Rossignol / Rossignol / Rossignol
  2. Sofia Goggia (ITA) – Atomic / Atomic / Atomic
  3. Lara Gut (SUI) – Head / Head / Head
  4. Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) – Atomic / Atomic / Atomic
  5. Viktoria Rebensburg (GER) – Stoeckli / Lange / Marker
  6. Raghnild Mowinckel (NOR) – Head / Head / Head
  7. Manuela Moellg (ITA) – Dynastar / Lange / Look
  8. Ana Drev (SLO)  – Volkl / Dalbello / Marker
  9. Marie-Michele Gagnon (CAN) – Rossignol / Lange / Rossignol
  10. Coralie Frasse Sombet (FRA) – Head / Head / Head

Official Results

Rank Bib FIS Code Name Year Nation Run 1 Run 2 Total Time Diff. FIS Points WC Points
 1  4  196928 WORLEY Tessa 1989 FRA  1:08.33  1:08.63  2:16.96  0.00  100.00
 2  8  298323 GOGGIA Sofia 1992 ITA  1:08.20  1:08.92  2:17.12  +0.16  1.14  80.00
 3  7  516138 GUT Lara 1991 SUI  1:08.49  1:08.72  2:17.21  +0.25  1.79  60.00
 4  6  6535237 SHIFFRIN Mikaela 1995 USA  1:08.13  1:09.25  2:17.38  +0.42  3.01  50.00
 5  3  205218 REBENSBURG Viktoria 1989 GER  1:08.72  1:09.22  2:17.94  +0.98  7.01  45.00
 6  20  425929 MOWINCKEL Ragnhild 1992 NOR  1:09.44  1:08.64  2:18.08  +1.12  8.01  40.00
 7  12  296259 MOELGG Manuela 1983 ITA  1:08.59  1:09.57  2:18.16  +1.20  8.59  36.00
 8  15  565268 DREV Ana 1985 SLO  1:08.67  1:09.58  2:18.25  +1.29  9.23  32.00
 9  9  105269 GAGNON Marie-Michele 1989 CAN  1:08.87  1:09.43  2:18.30  +1.34  9.59  29.00
 10  26  197124 FRASSE SOMBET Coralie 1991 FRA  1:09.24  1:09.30  2:18.54  +1.58  11.31  26.00
 11  24  506399 HECTOR Sara 1992 SWE  1:09.00  1:09.79  2:18.79  +1.83  13.09  24.00
 12  22  297702 MARSAGLIA Francesca 1990 ITA  1:09.23  1:09.64  2:18.87  +1.91  13.67  22.00
 13  18  296729 FANCHINI Nadia 1986 ITA  1:09.30  1:09.96  2:19.26  +2.30  16.46  20.00
 14  31  565360 STUHEC Ilka 1990 SLO  1:09.17  1:10.20  2:19.37  +2.41  17.24  18.00
 15  27  297910 CURTONI Elena 1991 ITA  1:09.52  1:09.98  2:19.50  +2.54  18.17  16.00
 16  19  516280 HOLDENER Wendy 1993 SUI  1:09.50  1:10.06  2:19.56  +2.60  18.60  15.00
 17  23  516268 WILD Simone 1993 SUI  1:09.04  1:10.76  2:19.80  +2.84  20.32  14.00
 18  21  197319 BAUD MUGNIER Adeline 1992 FRA  1:10.04  1:09.85  2:19.89  +2.93  20.97  13.00
 19  38  565373 ROBNIK Tina 1991 SLO  1:10.16  1:09.89  2:20.05  +3.09  22.11  12.00
 20  30  516528 MEILLARD Melanie 1998 SUI  1:09.54  1:10.52  2:20.06  +3.10  22.18  11.00
 21  40  426187 LYSDAHL Kristin 1996 NOR  1:10.26  1:09.88  2:20.14  +3.18  22.75  10.00
 22  43  107613 GRENIER Valerie 1996 CAN  1:09.97  1:10.37  2:20.34  +3.38  24.19  9.00
 23  29  56174 HAASER Ricarda 1993 AUT  1:10.15  1:10.21  2:20.36  +3.40  24.33  8.00
 24  10  55759 KIRCHGASSER Michaela 1985 AUT  1:09.62  1:10.76  2:20.38  +3.42  24.47  7.00
 25  62  516344 KOPP Rahel 1994 SUI  1:10.15  1:10.39  2:20.54  +3.58  25.62  6.00
 26  46  56282 RESCH Stephanie 1995 AUT  1:10.33  1:10.29  2:20.62  +3.66  26.19  5.00
 27  25  296509 CURTONI Irene 1985 ITA  1:10.34  1:10.91  2:21.25  +4.29  30.70  4.00
Did not qualify for 2nd run
 74  465092 CIOCANEL Raluca Georgiana 1996 ROU
 73  6000000 SIMADER Sabrina 1998 KEN
 70  506341 WIKSTROEM Emelie 1992 SWE
 69  665009 SHKANOVA Maria 1989 BLR
 68  415205 HUDSON Piera 1996 NZL
 66  315187 IGNJATOVIC Nevena 1990 SRB
 64  435334 GASIENICA-DANIEL Maryna 1994 POL
 63  56388 LIENSBERGER Katharina 1997 AUT
 61  485926 KRYUKOVA Kristina 1997 RUS
 59  425879 RIIS-JOHANNESSEN Kristina 1991 NOR
 58  197616 ALPHAND Estelle 1995 FRA
 56  405138 JELINKOVA Adriana 1995 NED
 55  506664 FJAELLSTROEM Magdalena 1995 SWE
 54  56199 KAPPAURER Elisabeth 1994 AUT
 53  516394 SUTER Jasmina 1995 SUI
 52  197215 MASSIOS Marie 1992 FRA
 51  56032 SCHILD Bernadette 1990 AUT
 50  155728 DUBOVSKA Martina 1992 CZE
 49  185430 HONKANEN Riikka 1998 FIN
 48  56241 SCHNEEBERGER Rosina 1994 AUT
 47  307120 ARAI Makiko 1993 JPN
 45  206355 DUERR Lena 1991 GER
 44  299624 PIROVANO Laura 1997 ITA
 42  485731 ROMANOVA Anastasia 1993 RUS
 39  307493 ANDO Asa 1996 JPN
 37  225525 TILLEY Alexandra 1993 GBR
 36  537772 STIEGLER Resi 1985 USA
 35  565331 LAVTAR Katarina 1988 SLO
 33  538284 MCJAMES Megan 1987 USA
 17  705423 VLHOVA Petra 1995 SVK
 16  505679 HANSDOTTER Frida 1985 SWE
Did not finish 2nd run
 28  56315 TRUPPE Katharina 1996 AUT
 11  55947 VEITH Anna 1989 AUT
 5  299276 BASSINO Marta 1996 ITA
Did not finish 1st run
 72  35089 SIMARI BIRKNER Macarena 1984 ARG
 71  95050 KIRKOVA Maria 1986 BUL
 67  35079 SIMARI BIRKNER Maria Belen 1982 ARG
 65  555018 GASUNA Lelde 1990 LAT
 60  206759 HIRTL-STANGGASSINGER Katrin 1998 GER
 57  565471 HROVAT Meta 1998 SLO
 41  197651 DIREZ Clara 1995 FRA
 34  565243 MAZE Tina 1983 SLO
 32  306249 HASEGAWA Emi 1986 JPN
 14  425771 LOESETH Nina 1989 NOR
 13  56217 BRUNNER Stephanie 1994 AUT
 2  297601 BRIGNONE Federica 1990 ITA
 1  355050 WEIRATHER Tina 1989 LIE

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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