RTL in Sölden

Women’s giant slalom LIVE from 10 am

Alice Robinson, Federica Brignone and Julia Scheib (from left)(Bild: AP)

Federica Brignone won the giant slalom in Sölden on Saturday ahead of Alice Robinson (+0.17 seconds). Julia Scheib (+1.08) finished in third place after a race to catch up.

It was the first podium finish for the Styrian and the first for the ÖSV women in a race in this discipline since third place for Katharina Liensberger on December 28, 2019 in Lienz. Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) finished fifth after leading at half-time.

Mikaela Shiffrin(Bild: GEPA)

Scheib third despite mega slip-up
The 26-year-old Scheib moved up from 14th place with the second-best run time. If it hadn't been for the mistake in the morning, when she headed for the wrong gate, she could have done a lot better.

Julia Scheib(Bild: AP)

"I tried to attack, at the finish I was three hundredths ahead, you don't know what that means at first," Scheib said at the finish in the first ORF TV interview. After the end of the race she said: "I made very good use of the piste. But you can also see what's possible when you fight. The first podium place is super cool." The trend also seems to be right for Katharina Liensberger after eighth place.

15,800 spectators were there live on the glacier on the national holiday, but apart from Scheib and Liensberger, there wasn't much to cheer about from an Austrian perspective. Stephanie Brunner dropped back from sixth place to 14th, Franziska Gritsch came 27th, Ricarda Haaser was eliminated in the second run, Katharina Truppe, Katharina Huber and Lisa Hörhager missed out.

Gut-Behrami not at the start
The defending overall World Cup champion was not at the start. Switzerland's Lara Gut-Behrami announced her withdrawal after the inspection as she was "simply not feeling 100 percent fit", as she tearfully stated in very emotional interviews. Gut-Behrami had been struggling with a severe flu in preparation for the race and subsequently had problems with her knee.