Italians sweep final podium, Worley takes home GS globe
The women of the World Cup have crossed their final finish line of the season, wrapping things up in Aspen, Colo. with a giant slalom race. All season the Italian women have proved they are the strongest team in the discipline, and on Sunday, they closed out the season with an exclamation point by sweeping the podium. Federica Brignone came into the finish corral as the winner with a combined time of 1:58.01–1.44 seconds ahead of the field. Her teammates Sofia Goggia and Marta Bassino came in second and third place.
Frenchwoman Tessa Worley finished the day in fifth place to secure the first World Cup giant slalom globe of her career.
“I mean this season, like I said, it was kind of a dream,” Worley said. “Everything went so well. We worked really hard, but now I have it and the whole team has it, so I’m just really, really proud. There were some tough moments, but I made it, so I’m so happy.”
While Worley held the globe, Brignone celebrated her third World Cup win of the season and the fifth of her career. The Italian earned her first-ever career podium at Aspen in 2009, and in total has podiumed at the venue five times.
“I tried to attack from the first gate to the finish in the first run and even the second run,” Brignone shared. “I was really stressed before the first run. I know I like the slope so much, but then it’s always not easy, and there were many, many changing gates, so it was short sometimes and long, and turny and not turny, so you had to stay on the line and stay on the rhythm always.”
The podium sweep was the ultimate way for the Italians to end the season.
“This is, I think, one of the best days of my life, being on the podium with these two girls and two Italians,” Brignone said. “It was amazing. It was really, really, really fun. But I didn’t know they were in front actually. I didn’t know nothing. I just went down and skied for myself and gave my best and when I crossed the finish line, I saw that I was in front, but I didn’t see who was second or third at the beginning. And then, I just heard the speaker saying, ‘Oh, second place Goggia, third Bassino,’ and it was amazing.'”
For Goggia, the podium finish was the cherry on top of her best season yet. The Italian earned 13 World Cup podium results this season across four disciplines. Her season also included two wins at the test events in Jeongseon, South Korea–the venue where next year’s Winter Olympic Games will be held. Just three hundredths behind her was Bassino. At 21 years old, she has three World Cup podiums to her name–all in giant slalom, and she was in the top 10 in seven of the nine World Cup GS races she started.
Of the 26 female athletes racing, seven were Italian. Irene Curtoni finished in 17th, and Laura Pirovano, the recently crowned Junior World Champion in giant slalom, finished in 23rd. Manuela Moelgg and Francesca Marsaglia did not finish.
The lone American competitor, Mikaela Shiffrin, was second place after the first run, but lost her lead in the softening second-run snow. She ended the day in sixth place. While the U.S. Ski Team athlete did not walk away with the discipline globe, she finally got her hands on the overall globe, which she won with a total of 1643 points. The next closest athlete was Slovenia’s Ilka Stuhec with 1325 points.
Even still, she doesn’t feel like the world’s best skier.
“I don’t think I’ll feel like the world’s best skier until I can win speed races, too,” she said.
At 22 years old, Shiffrin still has many years ahead of her to do that. The FIS Alpine World Cup Tour will return next season with the added excitement of the Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea.
Top 10
- Federica Brignone (ITA) – Rossignol / Look / Rossignol
- Sofia Goggia (ITA) – Atomic / Atomic / Atomic
- Marta Bassino (ITA) – Salomon / Salomon / Salomon
- Viktoria Rebensburg (GER) – Stoeckli / Lange / Marker
- Tessa Worley (FRA) – Rossignol / Look / Rossignol
- Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) – Atomic / Atomic / Atomic
- Petra Vlhova (SVK) – Rossignol / Look / Rossignol
- Melania Meillard (SUI) – Rossignol / Look / Rossignol
- Coralie Frasse Sombet (FRA) – Head / Head / Head
- Sara Hector (SWE) – 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 | 297601 | BRIGNONE Federica | 1990 | ITA | 59.56 | 58.45 | 1:58.01 | 0.00 | 100.00 | |
2 | 5 | 298323 | GOGGIA Sofia | 1992 | ITA | 1:00.86 | 58.59 | 1:59.45 | +1.44 | 11.96 | 80.00 |
3 | 2 | 299276 | BASSINO Marta | 1996 | ITA | 1:00.51 | 58.97 | 1:59.48 | +1.47 | 12.21 | 60.00 |
4 | 1 | 205218 | REBENSBURG Viktoria | 1989 | GER | 1:00.51 | 59.02 | 1:59.53 | +1.52 | 12.62 | 50.00 |
5 | 6 | 196928 | WORLEY Tessa | 1989 | FRA | 1:01.01 | 58.83 | 1:59.84 | +1.83 | 15.20 | 45.00 |
6 | 3 | 6535237 | SHIFFRIN Mikaela | 1995 | USA | 1:00.50 | 59.65 | 2:00.15 | +2.14 | 17.77 | 40.00 |
7 | 8 | 705423 | VLHOVA Petra | 1995 | SVK | 1:02.12 | 58.81 | 2:00.93 | +2.92 | 24.25 | 36.00 |
8 | 24 | 516528 | MEILLARD Melanie | 1998 | SUI | 1:01.65 | 59.47 | 2:01.12 | +3.11 | 25.83 | 32.00 |
9 | 19 | 197124 | FRASSE SOMBET Coralie | 1991 | FRA | 1:02.01 | 59.16 | 2:01.17 | +3.16 | 26.24 | 29.00 |
10 | 22 | 506399 | HECTOR Sara | 1992 | SWE | 1:02.16 | 59.16 | 2:01.32 | +3.31 | 27.49 | 26.00 |
10 | 13 | 355050 | WEIRATHER Tina | 1989 | LIE | 1:02.27 | 59.05 | 2:01.32 | +3.31 | 27.49 | 26.00 |
12 | 12 | 105269 | GAGNON Marie-Michele | 1989 | CAN | 1:01.61 | 59.72 | 2:01.33 | +3.32 | 27.57 | 22.00 |
13 | 11 | 425771 | LOESETH Nina | 1989 | NOR | 1:01.75 | 59.65 | 2:01.40 | +3.39 | 28.15 | 20.00 |
14 | 17 | 516268 | WILD Simone | 1993 | SUI | 1:01.68 | 59.77 | 2:01.45 | +3.44 | 28.57 | 18.00 |
15 | 9 | 565268 | DREV Ana | 1985 | SLO | 1:01.39 | 1:00.28 | 2:01.67 | +3.66 | 30.39 | 16.00 |
16 | 15 | 425929 | MOWINCKEL Ragnhild | 1992 | NOR | 1:01.93 | 59.78 | 2:01.71 | +3.70 | 30.73 | |
17 | 23 | 296509 | CURTONI Irene | 1985 | ITA | 1:02.15 | 59.60 | 2:01.75 | +3.74 | 31.06 | |
18 | 16 | 516280 | HOLDENER Wendy | 1993 | SUI | 1:02.27 | 59.50 | 2:01.77 | +3.76 | 31.22 | |
19 | 20 | 197319 | BAUD MUGNIER Adeline | 1992 | FRA | 1:02.25 | 59.63 | 2:01.88 | +3.87 | 32.14 | |
20 | 14 | 55759 | KIRCHGASSER Michaela | 1985 | AUT | 1:02.00 | 1:00.11 | 2:02.11 | +4.10 | 34.05 | |
21 | 25 | 565360 | STUHEC Ilka | 1990 | SLO | 1:03.02 | 59.31 | 2:02.33 | +4.32 | 35.87 | |
22 | 21 | 56315 | TRUPPE Katharina | 1996 | AUT | 1:03.36 | 59.93 | 2:03.29 | +5.28 | 43.85 | |
23 | 26 | 299624 | PIROVANO Laura | 1997 | ITA | 1:03.51 | 59.86 | 2:03.37 | +5.36 | 44.51 | |
Did not finish 2nd run | |||||||||||
7 | 296259 | MOELGG Manuela | 1983 | ITA | |||||||
Did not finish 1st run | |||||||||||
18 | 297702 | MARSAGLIA Francesca | 1990 | ITA | |||||||
10 | 56217 | BRUNNER Stephanie | 1994 | AUT |