Shiffrin Fifth at Kronplatz Giant Slalom

KRONPLATZ, Italy (Jan. 24, 2017) – Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, CO) rebounded from a disappointing first run to lay down a solid second run to finish fifth in Tuesday’s Audi FIS Ski World Cup giant slalom.

In front of the home-country crowd, Italy went 1-3 with Federica Brignone taking the victory and Marta Bassino in third. Tessa Worley of France was second. Brignone’s victory was only her second career World Cup giant slalom win, and her third career World Cup victory.  

Mikaela Shiffrin skied a solid second run to finish fifth in Tuesday’s Audi FIS Ski World Cup giant slalom. (Getty Images/AFP-Tiziana Fabi)

Shiffrin, starting third in the first run, just didn’t feel comfortable on her skis right out the gate. But she rebounded in second run, especially on the bottom, shadowed section of the course, which caused fits for numerous racers.

“Second run was definitely better than the first,” Shiffrin said. “I had a lot of struggle with my grip today and it was really, really bizarre because I have never had that kind of feeling where I wasn’t confident standing on my edges. We used the same set up and same tuning and everything that really works on this kind of snow, and for some reason today it was really off from the first gate.

“Second run was a bit better, a bit more trusting, but still a bit of a struggle,” she added. “So I’m happy with fifth place.”

Switzerland’s Lara Gut finished fourth and took five points out of Shiffrin’s overall World Cup lead. Worley leads the overall World Cup giant slalom standings by 120 points over Shiffrin and 22 points over Gut.

Up next, the women’s World Cup heads to Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy for downhill and super G races Saturday and Sunday. Stockholm, Sweden hosts a City Event slalom on Tuesday Jan. 31. All events will be streamed live on NBCSports.com.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Mikaela Shiffrin finished fifth in Tuesday’s Audi FIS Ski World Cup giant slalom in Kronplatz, Italy
• Italy went 1-3 in front of the home country crowd with Federica Brignone taking the victory and Marta Bassino in third, for her second career World Cup podium.
• Road to Aspen: Tessa Worley of France was second and maintained her World Cup giant slalom lead over Shiffrin by 120 points. Lara Gut, who was fourth Tuesday, took another five points out of Shiffrin’s overall World Cup lead. Shiffrin leads the overall standings with 1,053 points. Gut is second with 923 and Worley is third overall with 688 points.

QUOTES
Mikaela Shiffrin
Second run was definitely better than the first. I had a lot of struggle with my grip today and it was really, really bizarre because I have never had that kind of feeling where I wasn’t confident standing on my edges. We used the same set up and same tuning and everything that really works on this kind of snow, and for some reason today it was really off from the first gate.

Second run was a bit better, a bit more trusting, but still a bit of a struggle. So I’m happy with fifth place.

BROADCAST AND LIVE STREAMING (times EST)
All events streaming at www.nbcsports.com/live

Tuesday, Jan. 24
6:00 p.m. – Women’s giant slalom, Kronplatz – Universal HD

Saturday, Jan 28
4:30 a.m. – Women’s downhill, Cortina d’Ampezzo – nbcsports.com – LIVE
7:30 a.m. – Women’s downhill, Cortina d’Ampezzo – NBCSN

Sunday, Jan. 29
5:30 a.m. – Women’s super G, Cortina d’Ampezzo – nbcsports.com – LIVE
5:30 p.m. – Women’s super G, Cortina d’Ampezzo – NBCSN

Tuesday, Jan. 31
11:00 a.m. – City Event, Stockholm – nbcsports.com – LIVE
7:00 p.m. – City Event, Stockholm – Universal HD

RESULTS
Women’s giant slalom