Career Best for Moltzan; Radamus and McLaughlin Find Top 20
It was a strong day for the Stifel U.S. Alpine Team women with Mikaela Shiffrin finishing sixth and Paula Moltzan scoring eighth place in the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup giant slalom in Sestriere on Saturday. It was Moltzan's career-best giant slalom finish.
Moltzan ran bib 20, landing in 10th after the first run. “After the first run, I was pretty excited with how I skied," said Moltzan. "I didn't know that crossing the finish line I'd sit in 10th, but I was happy with the clean skiing I put down and I was just excited to get a second run and push as hard as I could."
Moltzan skied into first when she came down after her second run and ultimately moved up two spots to eighth place.
“I'm really excited about it. It's going to hopefully be the first step of many this season,” said Moltzan.
Mikaela Shiffrin was the top Stifel U.S. Alpine athlete for the day, finishing in sixth.
The top three finishers for the day include Marta Bassino of Italy in first, Sara Hector of Sweden in second, and Petra Vhlova of Slovakia in third.
Stella Johansson started her first career World Cup, but did not qualify for a second run. Nina O'Brien also did not qualify. Katie Hensien, AJ Hurt, Ava Sunshine and Allie Resnick did not finish first run.
In the men’s giant slalom held in Val D’Isére, tough conditions caused a large number of bobbles and DNFs. Stifel U.S. Alpine Team athlete River Radamus made some mistakes in the first run, but still made the top 30 and finished 16th overall.
“I was lucky to get a second run and wanted to push as hard as I could for the second run," said Radamus. "I felt like I gave too much respect on sections, I know I can ski better, so I'm ok with coming out with a 16th place result.” said Radamus.
Brian McLaughlin had a strong finish in 19th place, moving up from bib 39. This is one of his top world cup finishes, and his best result since 2018.
“I'm feeling really good about the result today," said McLaughlin. "It was a tough day, it's always tough here, I just tried to really push the first run and I was really happy with where I came down."
The top three finishers include Marco Odermatt of Switzerland in first, Manuel Feller of Austria in second and Zan Kranjec of Slovenia in third.
Rounding out the U.S. men, Tommy Ford did not qualify for a second run.
The men and women will turn to slalom Sunday.
RESULTS
Men's giant slalom
Women's giant slalom
HOW TO WATCH
6:30 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup, Men's Slalom, Run 2, Val D'Isere, France, streaming LIVE on skiandsnowboard.live.
7:30 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup, Women's Slalom, Run 2, Sestriere, Italy, streaming LIVE on skiandsnowboard.live.
