Moltzan Wins Bronze in World Championships Giant Slalom

On Thursday’s women’s giant slalom in Saalbach, Austria, Stifel U.S. Ski Team athlete Paula Moltzan took home the bronze medal at the FIS Alpine Ski World Championships - her first career individual medal. 

“I feel happy, joyful. It's been kind of a roller coaster of a season with results and with emotions,” said Moltzan. “So for it to play out on a really big stage is really emotional.”

The day began overcast and warm, making for softer snow on the long giant slalom course set. The women’s best giant slalom skiers from around the world had an early inspection as all 110 racers would hit the track since the GS qualifier was canceled the day before. Nevertheless, the women on the U.S. team were hungry for results and came out firing. 

Moltzan ran first for the women’s squad and did not hold back, pushing all the way down the track to land in third, 1.24 seconds off of Italian phenom Federica Brignone. Next was Nina O’Brien, who was looking for her big moment, but fell short after some costly errors on a largely flat hill. Finally AJ Hurt and Katie Hensien took to the course. Both put down solid splits but struggled to generate speed out of the skis on a long and relatively flat giant slalom.

“I was talking with my husband Ryan, who's my serviceman, and he got a report from our coaches and I knew I just had to go as hard as I could,” said Moltzan. 

The women had a few hours to kill in between runs, which is a long time to fuel and focus. By the time the second run came around, the sun was hidden behind the clouds and the temperature dropped a few degrees, making it possible for the snow to firm up. Hensien, Hurt and O’Brien all dialed it in and were ready to send. Hensien landed 22nd, O’Brien 19th and Hurt made some good moves to climb to 13th place. 

“I knew that there was a big turn over that roll, so I was trying to bring direction and I got a little too late,” said Hurt. “It definitely wasn't perfect the whole way down, but I felt like I had better sections and was able to find that like energy and aggression.” 

Moltzan was ready to seek vengeance on her "wooden spoon" fourth place result from the team combined a few days earlier. Her fierce speed and determination could be seen in each turn she took on the second run. She started to lose time at the bottom, but brought it back to get the green and claim her first World Championships individual medal by only one-hundredth of a second. 

“It is so much motivation to go into the slalom race with a result like this. It feels good, plus I am finishing the season with a result like this. It's super motivating,” said Moltzan. 

To complete the extraordinary day for Moltzan, her family and friends were all in attendance to watch this historic moment in her career. Hugs, champagne showers and tears were shed for the immense team effort. It is Moltzan's second World Championship medal, having won the gold in the team event in 2023. 

The winner of the race was Brignone who skied two runs flawlessly to win by 0.90 seconds. New Zealand’s Alice Robinson was second. 

The Stifel U.S. Ski Team women have now claimed a medal in every women's specific event so far and will look to keep the momentum rolling into the final event of slalom on Saturday. It’s the first time in 40 years that three different U.S. women have won an individual medal at the World Champs. The men race GS on Friday.

RESULTS 
Women's giant slalom 

HOW TO WATCH

Friday, Feb. 14
3:45 a.m. - men’s giant slalom, run one - skiandsnowboard.live
7:15 a.m. - men’s giant slalom, run two - skiandsnowboard.live

Saturday, Feb. 15
3:45 a.m. - women’s slalom, run one - skiandsnowboard.live
7:15 a.m. - women’s slalom, run two - skiandsnowboard.live
3:00 p.m. - women and men’s GS and team combined - NBC (tape delay) 

Sunday, Feb. 16
3:45 a.m. - men’s slalom, run one - skiandsnowboard.live
7:15 a.m. - men’s slalom, run two - skiandsnowboard.live
4:00 p.m. - women and men’s slalom - NBC (tape delay)