Federica Brignone dominated both runs to win the women’s giant slalom at the Alpine skiing world championships on Thursday while defending champion Mikaela Shiffrin sat out.
Brignone beat Alice Robinson by 0.90 seconds for her second medal from these worlds after earning silver in super-G a week ago. Brignone also leads the overall World Cup standings in arguably the best season of her career.
Robinson's silver was New Zealand's first medal in worlds history, according to The AP.
Paula Moltzan of the United States was 2.62 seconds behind and took bronze for her first individual world championship medal. She edged fourth-placed Thea Louise Stjernesund of Norway by one-hundredth of a second.
Shiffrin skipped the event because she said she was not ready yet to race giant slalom again following a crash in November.
“I have been dreaming of this moment for many, many years. I was always second," said Brignone, who won GS silver in 2011 and 2023. “This is just one of the best days of my life.”
She's the first Italian winner of the event since Deborah Compagnoni won back-to-back titles in 1996-97.
Brignone covered her face with both hands when she saw she won. Then Robinson and Moltzan embraced her in the finish area.
The American said she was “just happy, joyful" for her bronze. She was fourth in Tuesday's team combined with downhiller Lauren Macuga, and in the mixed team parallel event last week.
“It’s been kind of a rollercoaster of a season, with results and with emotions,” said Moltzan, whose parents were among the 11,000 spectators.
“For it all to kind of play out on the really big stage is amazing. I can’t believe I was on the right side of the hundredth today.”
Shiffrin planned to start in Saturday’s slalom. She paired with downhiller Breezy Johnson and skied the slalom portion to win the team combined event.
Shiffrin won the giant slalom world title in 2023 and has been on the podium in GS at every worlds since 2017.
“What I have been struggling with this past couple of weeks with GS is, when we bring in normal or, like, real conditions, a little bit harder snow, I don’t even know that I’m scared,” Shiffrin said. “I just can’t do the movements that you need to do to make a fast GS turn.”
The American holder of a record 99 World Cup wins suffered a deep puncture wound when she fell in a GS on Nov. 30 in Killington, Vermont, causing severe trauma to her oblique muscles, and underwent surgery in December.
At 34 years, 7 months, Brignone became the oldest female medalist at the worlds. She overtook Lindsey Vonn, who was four months younger when she won downhill bronze in 2019.
Vonn, who came out of retirement after nearly six years at age 40 this season with a new titanium knee, doesn’t race in giant slalom anymore.
The next event at the worlds is the men's giant slalom on Friday.
