Alice Robinson Takes a Resounding Victory in the Alpine Ski World Cup Giant Slalom at Copper Mountain

Alice Robinson claims victory in the Alpine Ski World Cup Giant Slalom in Copper Mountain thanks to two furious runs. The 23-year-old recorded the fastest time in both runs, finishing 0.96 seconds ahead of Julia Scheib. Thea Louise Stjernesund took third place, finishing 1.08 seconds behind Robinson.

The New Zealander has won five World Cup Giant Slalom races and has finished on the podium 18 times. After today's win, Robinson became the most successful female Alpine Ski World Cup racer from a nation outside Europe or North America.

On October 26, 2019, Alice Robinson won the women's World Cup Giant Slalom event in Sölden at age 17. She became the youngest winner of a World Cup event since Mikaela Shiffrin, who was also 17 years old when she won her first World Cup event (in 2012-2013) in Åre in December 2012.

She is coming off the most consistent season of her career, finishing second in the Giant Slalom ranking, 60 points behind Federica Brignone. With seven Giant Slalom World Cup podium finishes (and two DNFs) and a silver medal in the Alpine World Ski Championships in Saalbach, only a fantastic Brignone prevented Robinson from being crowned the best Giant Slalom skier of the 2024-2025 Alpine Ski World Cup winter season.

"I wasn't feeling very confident coming into this race, so I'm really proud of myself for trusting my instincts and skiing the way I wanted," said Robinson.

"It was definitely a day of two different runs. I felt so in control and smooth on the first run, but on the second run, I felt completely out of control and like I was just recovering the whole time. So I was pretty shocked to see the big green light at the finish line. Honestly, I was in complete disbelief. I thought I had ruined it with my mistakes," she added.

27-year-old Soelden winner Julia Scheib has now claimed 4 World Cup podiums. Scheib's victory on the Rettenbach Glacier in Soelden, the first of her Alpine Ski World Cup career, ended the Austrian Women's Team's long drought in the Giant Slalom. Before Soelden, the last win in the discipline for the Austrian Women's Ski Team was achieved by Eva-Maria Brem in Jasna in 2016. Since then, the ski team has not won a single victory in 79 races. This extended wait has been the longest experienced by any discipline within the Austrian team.

With today's second place, Scheib consolidates her leadership in the Giant Slalom standings with 180 points. Alice Robinson is now second with 132 points.

"I’m very happy with second place. In the middle section, I thought I was going to drop back to tenth place. I didn’t get into a good rhythm at the top; it was also very dark. I pushed. More in the second run, I pushed really hard, but Robinson was simply better. She deserved to win," Scheib said.

Thanks to the fastest second run, matched only by Robinson, Thea Louise Stjernesund climbed up from 5th place onto the podium.

"I had so high expectations for this day because I know what I have in me. I changed the skis for the second run. I was very happy that I dared to make that switch. For sure, it's far from perfect, but I'm just so happy to see that it's enough for a podium," Stjernesund said.