Italians sweep final podium, Worley takes home GS globe

By Published On: March 19th, 2017Comments Off on 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.

Photo by Alexis Boichard/Agence Zoom

Photo by Alexis Boichard/Agence Zoom

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.'”

Photo by Alexis Boichard/Agence Zoom

Photo by Alexis Boichard/Agence Zoom

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

  1. Federica Brignone (ITA) – Rossignol / Look / Rossignol
  2. Sofia Goggia (ITA) – Atomic / Atomic / Atomic
  3. Marta Bassino (ITA) – Salomon / Salomon / Salomon
  4. Viktoria Rebensburg (GER) – Stoeckli / Lange / Marker
  5. Tessa Worley (FRA) – Rossignol / Look / Rossignol
  6. Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) – Atomic / Atomic / Atomic
  7. Petra Vlhova (SVK) – Rossignol / Look / Rossignol
  8. Melania Meillard (SUI) –  Rossignol / Look / Rossignol
  9. Coralie Frasse Sombet (FRA) – Head / Head / Head
  10. 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

 

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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