Win No 92 For Shiffrin in Lienz, Sarrazin Wins Bormio DH
Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) produced one of the all-time great first runs to dominate the Giant Slalom in Lienz, Austria on Thursday. While all her rivals, including the red-hot Federica Brignone (ITA), struggled down an icy, bumpy, lightening quick first set, Shiffrin appeared to be skiing on a different planet. Having built a huge advantage, the American record-breaker was then able to “manage” her second run en-route to her 22nd Audi FIS World Cup GS victory.
“My goal is to close the gap a little on the giant slalom standings. so I wanted to win it but I also did not want to mess it up. I am super happy,” said Shiffrin, who has now won four races in three different disciplines this season.
A charging Brignone grabbed second to sign off a great year in style, while Sara Hector (SWE) signalled a welcome return to somewhere near her best with third place, a first podium finish of the season for the Olympic GS champion.
But in truth, no one got close to Shiffrin and it was Brignone herself who illustrated the gap between the American star and the best of the rest.
The Austrian crowds were in full force to cheer on their favorite women ski racers for the first of two races in the town. The snow surface was particularly firm making it a challenge for racers all around. But that didn't seem to deter Mikaela Shiffrin, who scored a dominant lead knifing every single turn to win the first run by 0.63 seconds over second place and more than a second above third place.
“It was challenging today on a really good surface, but still challenging,” said Shiffrin. “I felt amazing on the first run but I knew I had to push still for the second run.”
Brignone, fifth first run, blazed down the hill to win the second run and move up to second place overall. Sweden’s Sara Hector skied smoothly to land in third place. But they were no match for Shiffrin and her sizable lead from the first run. Shiffrin had a clean run to finish in first by 0.38 seconds.
“In the first run I felt awful, it was so slippery, I didn’t feel my skis, I didn’t feel my edges and it was impossible to push and to make any turns,” Brignone said.
In contrast, Shiffrin “felt amazing on the first run” and it showed. Flawless to the naked eye, the most successful World Cup skier of all-time appeared to fly down the track to finish 0.63 seconds ahead of Hector at the halfway point. With Brignone a whole second further back.
Shiffrin’s failure to land a win in her opening four GS races of the season had got some people talking, but not the reigning discipline champion herself. Happy with her form and with a strong block of recent GS training behind her – no Christmas break for the Shiffrin team – the already run-away leader of the overall Crystal Globe standings was then able to ski within herself to add a GS victory to her slalom and downhill triumphs.
“My big, big goal right now it to close the gap on the GS standings, so I was like ‘now I want to win it but I really don’t want to mess it up, that would be disappointing’. I really wanted to push on the second run, a couple of small errors, nothing big, but I am happy with the skiing anyway. I skied a very well managed run,” said Shiffrin who finished in a combined time of 2:05.98.
She then pointed out that the first of her seven GS victories last season came on the very same day a year ago.
“When you miss a win for so long in the season, it’s easy to be like ‘I am doing things wrong, I am doing things wrong’ but tactically the season is a marathon not a sprint and I have to every single day be relentless with my training and bring the right mentality to race day and step-by-step until it’s at the top,” she explained.
A skiing fan at her core, Shiffrin then revealed that she had enjoyed watching Brignone’s “stunning” second run and that had there been “three more gates” the Italian probably would have caught her.
“After the first run I never thought it was possible to be on the podium. Being second, it’s just amazing,” said Brignone, who was typically light on her skis, barely making a mark on the Austrian piste to record the fastest time of the afternoon.
“We changed a little bit, something with my service guy in the second run (and) the snow changed a little bit (but) my attitude was different. This was the big thing,” Brignone added.
She takes over from Lara Gut-Behrami (SUI) – sixth after a surprisingly low-key second run – at the top of the GS season standings.
Meanwhile, Hector was relieved to finally grab her first podium of the season, having focused on “pushing” and her “outside ski”.
“So many girls are skiing so good so to make a podium it means a lot,” the Swede said. “I am so happy to make it to the podium today. I think I skied half of both of the runs really well.”
Just behind her Valerie Grenier (CAN) almost ended 2023 like she started it. The winner of the year’s opening World Cup GS in Kranjska Gora (SLO) was a mere 0.18 seconds off another podium.
Much to the delight of the home crowd, Julia Scheib (AUT) was even quicker than Grenier second time down. Roared on by hordes of fans who had seen top hope Katharina Liensberger (AUT) fail to qualify for the afternoon, the 25-year-old Scheib produced the run of her lifetime to jump from 14th to fifth – her best ever World Cup result.
For the men, on the long, dark, icy and bumpy rollercoaster that is the legendary Stelvio piste in Bormio, Cyprien Sarrazin (FRA) put in the performance of a lifetime to grab his first downhill Audi FIS World Cup win – somehow seeing a line where others faltered and tumbled.
29-year-old Sarrazin won a parallel giant slalom in Alta Badia back in 2016, and finished second in the giant slalom at Alta Badia in 2019, but this aggressive-yet-calm performance was his finest moment, and defied the conditions.
Marco Odermatt (SUI) came second with a run he rated as highly as his World Championship downhill triumph, while Canada’s Cameron Alexander (CAN) secured third place.
The unforgiving track took several notable victims, however, including Dominik Paris (ITA), while last season’s downhill champion Aleksander Aamodt Kilde (NOR) and last year’s Bormio winner Vincent Kriechmayr (AUT) both caught stones on the course.
Sarrazin, from Gap in the French Alps, seemed to be racing a different course to the rest. Selecting a brilliant choice of line on the upper section, he looked in harmony with the tricky mountain throughout, and carried his speed onto the more technical lower section with ease.
He is the first French men’s downhill winner at Bormio since 1996, when Luc Alphond took the title. At the finish, Sarrazin still seemed energised where others looked exhausted.
“Finally I did a great run from the first gate to the finish line,” he said afterwards. “I felt so great, I enjoyed it. I pushed all along. I think it’s crazy. When I crossed the line I thought ‘yes, you did your job, and it is amazing’.
“It means a lot for me. After all the injuries, bad moments and good moments in my career, today I feel great. I wasn’t nervous, I knew I could do something. I said, just be yourself and see what happens.”
Marco Odermatt (SUI), meanwhile, didn’t manage to log his debut FIS World Cup downhill first place finish, but he did put in one of his favourite-ever second place skis.
“It was one of my best downhills, I’m not sure if it was less good than the World Championship downhill win,” he said. “I crossed the finish and I thought, ‘that’s it’.
“I went straight to Sarrazin to congratulate him for the victory, because that’s one of my best skiing [performances] ever, and from him as well, I guess.”
Cameron Alexander (CAN), 26, who won the downhill in Kvitfjell back in March, was satisfied with third.
“I knew it was going to be a fight today,” he said. “It’s Bormio, so you have to fight all the way down. It never really feels that good anywhere. Props to Cyprien and Marco, they obviously skied really well.”
Many big names struggled with the course however, and bad luck played a part. The King of Bormio, Dominik Paris (ITA), who has triumphed in the downhill six times here, was looking on target for another podium, but fell in the mid-section of the race, catching his inside ski on a bump.
Aleksander Aamodt Kilde (NOR), last season’s downhill champion, was also looking at his bullish best: he was inside Sarrazin’s time but had a mishap mid-course.
“It felt like I hit a rock, and I looked at the ski when I came to the finish – inside on the left ski had a rips in it, and then it’s impossible to ski Bormio after that because it’s so icy,” he said.
“I actually just stopped because I knew it would be dangerous. It’s a pity. I feel really good in my skiing, but this is a part of the game, we have lots of chances and new races coming up.
“I watched Cyprien and I knew I had to send it. I was really fired up today but you need four edges to win a run like that.”
Last year’s Bormio winner Vincent Kriechmayr (AUT), also caught a stone, which slowed him down significantly.
The most concerning moment of the day however was the crash of Marco Schwarz (AUT). The Austrian, who is skiing all four main disciplines, caught a rut and careered into the nets. He was helicoptered to hospital with a suspected right knee injury.
