Sölden (Austria) (AFP)
Shiffrin, ahead of 2 / 100th by the world champion in the specialty Lara Gut-Behrami after the first round, pulled out all the stops on the second track to finally win 14 / 100th ahead of the Swiss in snow conditions. perfect, under a bright sun.
Both left the competition far behind: the third, the champion of the big globe, the Slovakian Petra Vhlova, finished at 1 sec 30 / 100th.
The Italian Marta Bassino, another favorite as defending champion of the small globe of the specialty and victorious in Sölden last year, she left at the fault in the first round, imitated by her compatriot Federica Brignone in the second.
After a year of skiing behind closed doors, due to the coronavirus pandemic, this inaugural race marked a semblance of a return to normal with the reappearance of the stands to buy a beer, schnitzels or hats with the "Sölden" logo, at the bottom of the Rettenbach glacier.
Kilde support it
Above all, some 9,000 spectators.
Without masks, but after having to show white paw - tests or vaccines - at Covid checkpoints on the roads leading to the tracks.
The skiers did not shy away from the pleasure of being able to greet their fan clubs, even if the white circus remains subject to protocols as strict as last season, in order to ensure the smooth running of the season on the road to the Olympic Games. Beijing winter (February 4-20).
American Mikaela Shiffrin celebrates her victory in the World Cup giant slalom in Solden, Austria on October 23, 2021 Johann GRODER APA / AFP
The landscape regains some colors but on the track, the queens of the giant have not changed, with the nice inaugural duel between Shiffrin and Gut-Behrami, in the tradition of the Cortina Worlds with the giant won in February by the Swiss.
To the applause of the Norwegian Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, his companion present in the finish area, Shiffrin confirmed his return to the fore, after experiencing personal concerns.
The triple winner of the Big Globe (from 2017 to 2019) has just lived two more difficult seasons after the brutal death of her father and an assumed loss of motivation in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Again attracted by the general, with her announced return to the speed tests, she marks the entry spirits with this 70th victory, at only 26 years old.
Only the Swede Ingemar Stenmark (86) and his compatriot Lindsey Vonn (82) have more.
Disappointed Worley
"It's important to start strong, I'm super happy," she said after this second victory in Sölden.
A race where it is not always easy to be on top, so early in the season: "I think that sometimes some do not force and see it as training. But you really have to attack, today it was a hello."
With her second place, Lara Gut-Behrami, 2020 world champion of the giant and super-G, also confirms that she will have to be reckoned with after having been in the fight to the end for the general classification last season.
Switzerland's Lara Gut-Behrami during the first round of the World Cup giant slalom in Sölden, Austria, on October 23, 2021 Johann GRODER APA / AFP / Archives
The French Tessa Worley for her part finished eighth, after having caught up with a second top flight (4th time) a disappointing first (16th).
"The Tessa who reacts in the second set as usual (smiles), it's a real shame because I finished too far in the first to be able to play something," observed the Frenchwoman.
The return to school was more difficult for Marta Bassino.
Going off the road after pushing too early before the flat finish in the first round, the Italian nevertheless keeps her morale up: "The positive thing is that Sölden is so early in the season that there is time. to rediscover sensations. "
© 2021 AFP