Julia Scheib Wins Alpine Ski World Cup Opener in Soelden
- Raúl Revuelta
- Oct 25
- 4 min read
Updated: Oct 28
In front of 15,900 ski fans, Julia Scheib secured victory for the host nation in the Women's Alpine Ski World Cup opener held in Soelden. Scheib finished with a lead of 0.58 seconds over Paula Moltzan, while Lara Gut-Behrami completed the podium 1.11 seconds behind Scheib.
Austrian Julia Scheib's victory today 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 today, 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.
Austria's Ski Association has been waiting for a home victory in Sölden since the successes of Anna Veith and Marcel Hirscher in 2014.
The Styrian skier laid the foundation of her victory in a fantastic first run. Scheib's lead, she finished 1.28 seconds ahead of Paula Moltzan, was the third-largest after the first run in the history of the race in Soelden. Mikaela Shiffrin was 1.42 seconds behind Swiss Lara Gut-Behrami in 2016, and Frenchwoman Carole Merle was 1.36 seconds behind Anita Wachter in 1993.
Last season in Soelden, Scheib achieved her first Alpine Ski World Cup podium finish. Before that accomplishment, her best performances included finishing fifth in Saalbach in March 2024 and in Lienz in December 2023. During the 2024–25 winter season, she firmly established herself among the world elite, achieving six top-10 finishes in nine races. These included sixth place in Semmering, fourth place in Kranjska Gora, ninth and fifth places in Sestriere, and seventh place in Åre.
"A thousand kilos were lifted from my shoulders. I was so relieved at the finish when I saw the green light. The run felt terrible. I was more light-footed in the first run. But when you're the last one at the top, that's probably normal," she said in the ORF interview.
"Winning is never easy, even when you're in top form. So far, there's always been something missing. I want to thank everyone. Everyone knew we hadn't won in a long time. That was no secret," she added.
Coaches and experts have long considered Julia Scheib to be a major talent. She won silver in the Super-G at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics in Lillehammer, and gold in the Giant Slalom at the 2018 Junior World Ski Championships in Davos (she also finished fourth in the Downhill and fifth in the Super-G). She has been part of the Austrian Giant Slalom Alpine Ski World Cup team since the 2018-2019 winter season. At the time, she was 20 years old and had already experienced cruciate ligament and meniscus tears at the age of 16. On February 1, 2019, she earned her first World Cup points by finishing 24th in the Giant Slalom in Maribor. A few days later, she finished second in the Super-G at the 2019 Junior World Ski Championships in Val di Fassa.
At the start of the 2019-2020 winter season, mononucleosis put her out of action for a while, followed by a coronavirus infection a year later. The next and most severe setback to date came in 2021 with a cruciate ligament tear and a torn lateral meniscus in her left knee during a European Cup race in Berchtesgaden. After her second cruciate ligament tear, she spent almost two years working towards her comeback. She returned to the World Cup slopes at the end of December 2022 in Semmering.
Paula Moltzan led an impressive showing for the U.S. Ski Team, with six skiers finishing in the Top 20, including Mikaela Shiffrin in fourth place and Nina O’Brien in sixth. The last time the US Ski Team entered so many athletes in a Giant Slalom second run was in Park City in 1992. The US skiers benefited from a deal with the Austrian Team at the first race of the season. This meant that they could train with the Austrians in Soelden beforehand. In return, the Austrians will train with the US Ski Team at Copper Mountain in November and have exclusive use of the slopes.
It is Moltzan’s second Giant Slalom podium, following her first in January 2025 in Kronplatz. She now has a total of six podium finishes.
Since finishing 11th in Soelden last season, Moltzan has claimed a second and a third place, as well as six other top-10 finishes, in World Cup Giant Slalom events. She also recorded two DNFs in Kranjska Gora and Sun Valley. In addition, she won a bronze medal at the 2025 Alpine World Ski Championships in Saalbach in February.
"I grew up as a Slalom skier, but a few years ago I started doing Giant Slalom, and I love it. It's a nice distraction from Slalom. I guess I'm a Giant Slalom skier now," Moltzan said.
Following her third-place finish today, Lara Gut-Behrami achieved the remarkable milestone of reaching 101 Alpine Ski World Cup podiums, tying the record set by Vreni Schneider. She is now the sixth woman to surpass 100 World Cup podiums, alongside Mikaela Shiffrin (157), Lindsey Vonn (138), Annemarie Moser-Pröll (114), and Renate Götschl (110). It is worth noting that almost eighteen years passed between her first (a third place in the Downhill in St. Moritz in 2008) and her last Alpine Ski World Cup podium finish today in Soelden.
“I'm looking forward to racing, to more races this season than always thinking it's the last race I'm racing in Soelden because it's not the way I am. I'm really happy to start a season like that with the podium, but the season is really long, and for me, the most important thing is to start well, to ski well, and then you can build on that," Gut-Behrami said.
Following the traditional opening event of the Alpine Ski World Cup in Soelden, the next Women's Giant Slalom is scheduled to take place in Copper Mountain, Colorado (USA) on 29 November.
Comments