Shiffrin finishes giant slalom in 7th place as ski racing season starts in Austria

SOLDEN, Austria (AP) — Mikaela Shiffrin had to settle for a seventh-placed finish while fellow American Paula Moltzan enjoyed her first career win as the Alpine ski racing season opened with a women’s giant slalom on Saturday.

Shiffrin led after the first run in Sölden, Austria, on the Rettenbach glacier. But her second run wasn’t good enough and sent the Olympic slalom champion down to seventh.

When Shiffrin crossed the line it was Moltzan who was left celebrating her first World Cup win at age 32.

“It feels like a fairy tale right now, pretty unreal,” Moltzan said.

Lara Colturi of Albania was second. Germany’s Emma Aicher, who last season finished second to Shiffrin in the overall title standings, was third.

Britt Richardson of Canmore, Alta., was 27th.

Shiffrin shifts focus this season

Shiffrin’s sixth World Cup overall title last season equaled the women’s record set in the 1970s by Austrian great Annemarie Moser-Pröll. But Shiffrin has called this campaign an “exploration season” in which she will reduce her slalom races and focus more on giant slalom and super-G.

The 31-year-old hasn’t won a giant slalom race in nearly three years, going back to December 2023, while her last super-G victory was in 2022.

Shiffrin used to race and win in all disciplines, but she had reduced her schedule in recent years after she endured terrifying crashes in a downhill in Cortina in early 2024 and a GS in Killington 10 months later. Her 22 career victories in giant slalom remain the women’s record, as are her 73 wins in slalom and 110 wins overall.

A men’s giant slalom will be held at Sölden on Sunday.

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The Associated Press