Shiffrin, O’Brien Top 10 in Tremblant; Moltzan Top 15

Three Stifel U.S. Ski Team women skied into the top 15 in Saturday’s giant slalom race in Tremblant, Canada. Mikaela Shiffrin led the charge in sixth, Nina O’Brien was 10th and Paula Moltzan rounded out the group in 13th place. 

It was a cold winter-y day in Tremblant for the women’s giant slalom race, bringing a mix of wintery conditions from fog to light snow. Moltzan ran first for the Americans and came out firing, but made a massive mistake toward the middle, pushing her down to the 20th position on the first run. O’Brien skied well, landing just outside the top 15. Shiffrin put down an excellent first run to take third.

“I was really pushing, which was exactly what I wanted to achieve on the first run, and then try to do something as close to that as possible on the second run,” said Shiffrin. 

Conditions were tough in the second run, with piling snow and tough visibility, but Moltzan and O’Brien skied aggressively to bump themselves up a considerable number of spots. O’Brien ended up in the top 10 in 10th place, while Moltzan was 13th.

“I feel like this run I had a better attitude going forward so hopefully I can start off with that same mindset tomorrow, but it was challenging conditions,” said O’Brien. 

The fog rolled in on Shiffrin's run, but it didn't impact the top half of her run, as the large crowd cheered on her flawless turns. But she lost a little bit of time toward the end and ultimately landed in sixth place - another excellent result for Shiffrin's return to GS.

"I felt very aggressive on the second run," said Shiffrin. "But there were a couple spots looking back that I maybe wasn't as clean as possible so that's something that I can work on tomorrow," said Shiffrin. " 

This result puts Shiffrin back into the top 15 giant slalom seed, giving her a much better start bib for races to come. That achievement marked a big moment after her devastating crash in the Killington giant slalom over a year ago that left her with PTSD and a long journey to recovery. 

 "It's really exciting to be in the top 15 again because it wasn't many races ago that I was fighting to be in the top 30," said Shiffrin. 

The winner of the day was New Zealand’s Alice Robinson, second place went to Croatian Zrinka Ljutic with Canadian Valerie Grenier in third place in front of the hometown crowd. Elisabeth Bocock did not finish and Kjersti Moritz landed just outside the top 30 in 31st. 

“Tomorrow we will just come out really hungry because we had some good sections but for sure want more,” said O’Brien. 

Another giant slalom takes place on Sunday in Tremblant.

RESULTS
Women's giant slalom