Italy’s Federica Brignone on Saturday became the oldest woman to win an FIS Alpine Ski World Cup giant slalom event with her triumph at Mont Tremblant, Quebec, where Switzerland’s Lara Gut-Behrami was unable to extend her perfect start to the season in the discipline.
Olympic silver medalist Brignone, who finished sixth in the giant slalom last week at Killington, Vermont, led after the first run and went on to win by 21 hundredths of a second over Petra Vlhova with a total time of 2 minutes, 14.95 seconds.
Mikaela Shiffrin, who won the slalom event at Killington last week for a record-extending 90th World Cup win, finished third, 29 hundredths of a second behind Brignone.
Photo: AP
“I came here after Killington weekend and there I didn’t have great sensations, and I just wanted to show my skiing and to come here and just ski the way I want and the way I know,” said Brignone. “It’s amazing, a lot of pride.”
With her win, the 33-year-old Italian surpassed the record set by Austria’s Anita Wachter, who was 32 years and 319 days old when she won the World Cup giant slalom event at Lienz in December 1999.
“I’m the oldest, right?” Brignone said, laughing after the race. “I was for sure not feeling so great in the second run. The snow was good, but then I felt a little bit like I was going slow and I said: ‘Okay, you have to push now.’”
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