1.28, then 0.58. Julia Scheib won the women’s season-opening giant slalom on the Rettenbach glacier on Saturday in 2:16.51, 0.58 seconds ahead of Paula Moltzan. Lara Gut-Behrami was third at 1.11. It is the 27-year-old Austrian’s first World Cup win.
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time / Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Julia ScheibAUT | AUT | 2:16.51 |
| 2 | Paula MoltzanUSA | USA | +0.58 |
| 3 | Lara Gut-BehramiSUI | SUI | +1.11 |
| 4 | Mikaela ShiffrinUSA | USA | n/a |
| 8 | Alice RobinsonNZL | NZL | n/a |
| 9 | Sara HectorSWE | SWE | n/a |
Run one settled it
Scheib finished the first run 1.28 seconds clear of the field. On a glacier course that long, that is not a margin you build with one good section; it is built by holding a line through the Wall and not giving anything back on the flat. Moltzan was second fastest in run one, Gut-Behrami fifth.
The second run narrowed it to 0.58 rather than reversing it. Moltzan made a significant error on the Sölden Wall and lost her momentum there; she still had the speed to hold second. Gut-Behrami came from fifth to third. Mikaela Shiffrin skied two clean runs for fourth and called the day a step forward in her giant slalom; she described the course as long, dark and bumpy.
What a first win at 27 looks like
Scheib’s previous best in Sölden was third, a year earlier, which was also her first World Cup podium. The site’s archive, following the FIS competitions-to-position list, counts 25 World Cup races before her first win; FIS’s own stat sheet for the weekend called this her 45th World Cup giant slalom start. The two count different things, and FIS publishes both. Either way she arrived here with one podium and left with a win.
It is Austria’s first home win in Sölden in eleven years. A record 15,900 spectators were on the glacier, and five Americans finished in the top 13.
Numbers
- 1.28: Scheib’s first-run lead.
- 0.58: the winning margin.
- 1: her career World Cup podiums before this race. Wins: none.
- 11 years: since an Austrian woman last won in Sölden.
The women go next to Levi for the first slalom of the winter on 15 November. Scheib leaves the opener with the giant slalom lead she will not give up: she won the discipline globe in March.