Shiffrin, Moltzan Top 10 in Tremblant
On day two of the two-day series of giant slalom races in Tremblant, Stifel U.S. Ski Team athletes Mikaela Shiffrin and Paula Moltzan had a strong day, finishing in fourth and sixth place, respectively.
It was another brisk day in Tremblant and the women took what they learned from the day prior into the final day out east. Shiffrin, Moltzan and Nina O’Brien all impressed with strong first runs. O’Brien sat in third, Shiffrin sixth and Moltzan 18th. However, if they learned anything from Saturday’s race, the second run could change everything.
“I watched the video, refocused, picked some points in which I needed to improve on and locked in," said Moltzan.
Moltzan was the first American to run in the second run, skiing flawlessly down the false flats and through the various terrain and pitches. She would sit in the leaderboard chair for a long chunk of time, moving from 18th place to an eventual sixth place finish.
“I trusted my gut on my inspection and went for it,” said Moltzan
Shiffrin was next up for the team and skied with force down the various sections of the course. Shiffrin would ultimately land fourth place - tied with Swiss skier Camille Rast. It was another positive step in the right direction for her giant slalom discipline, and shows that she can be back on the podium again.
“I had the chance to be in there within range,” said Shiffrin. “I'm just going to keep working on cleaning up any small errors and bring a higher intensity.”
Last up was O’Brien, in a position she had not been in before: contending for a podium. O’Brien skied aggressively at the top into the green, but got caught up in the transition and skied out. It was a disappointing second runm but there was promising skiing in between.
The winner of the race was Austria’s Julia Scheib, Sweden’s Sara Hector in second and New Zealand’s Alice Robinson in third. Stifel U.S. Ski Team’s Elisabeth Bococok did not finish and Kjersti Moritz once again put down some strong skiing to just miss the flip 30 in 34th place.
The women’s tech tour will now spend some time training before heading to Courchevel, France for a night slalom later in December. The speed skiers kick off their racing starting on Dec. 12 in St. Moritz.
RESULTS
Women's giant slalom
