Lara Gut-Behrami won today the second Giant Slalom of the season in Killington. The 32-year-old Swiss skier climbed to the top of the podium after placing third in the first run and celebrated her 39th World Cup victory ahead of Alice Robinson (+0.62) and local favorite Mikaela Shiffrin (+0 ,81).
Like in Sölden Gut-Behrami was in a class of her own in the Beast slope. After the first run, Robinson led with 0.06 seconds over Sara Hector and 0.08 seconds over Gut-Behrami. In the second run, Gut-Behrami showed her current top form and prevailed ahead of the New zealender.
"I didn't feel so good on the top," Gut-Behrami said of her second run. I felt like I was losing my skis, standing a little bit too much on the back of my skis. Then I found the balance and the last part was nice. I'm just feeling confident now with my Giant Slalom skiing so everything feels easier. I'm enjoying what I'm doing so that helps", Gut-Behrami said.
The skier from Ticino became the first Swiss woman to win back-to-back World Cup Giant Slalom races since Sonja Nef did it in 2001. It's her seventh win in the Giant Slalom discipline. She was on the podium 76 times in the World Cup, 20 of them in Giant Slalom.
"It's the first time actually that I'm racing with the red bib in Giant Slalom and I keep it. I've never managed that in my career, so that's a nice feeling too. I try to always push myself forward and find new motivation. That’s definitely a huge motivational boost", she added.
Last season Gut-Behrami won the first Women's World Cup Giant Slalom race of the year in Killington on November 26, 2022.
Robinson is happy to be again on the podium after a difficult couple of seasons. The 21-year-old had not reached the podium in two-and-a-half years.
"I was so happy with my first run, it was a bit unexpected. And then the second run I wanted to go for it. I definitely had a few mistakes which maybe cost me the win but it was so tight after the first run that anything can happen. Second place is amazing", Robinson said.
Mikaela Shiffrin, after finishing in fifth position in the first run, was able to finish on the podium despite making two small errors in the mid-section of her second run. Her 140th World Cup podium.
"Today was pretty much an adventure, a mental adventure. Lara's second run was spectacular. It wasn't perfect but she has the mentality of keeping the speed no matter what, and that's the level that we all want to get toI'm really excited that I was able to feel some of my best turns that I was able to do consistently last year", Shiffrin said.