Out in front of everyone with a full 74-hundredths-of-a-second lead over the second-placed skier. The Sölden course proved challenging due to both its altitude (starting at 3,050 m) and its role as the opening event of the season, bringing plenty of changes and new unknowns.
The Italian National Team arrived at the event with skiers in good shape and ready to get the new ski season off to a great start. At the end of the run, the standings show veteran Denise Karbon as the top Italian athlete with a very solid performance: a lightning-fast start put her just 1 hundredth of a second behind Tina Maze, before losing significant time on the steep pitch and dropping back, only to claw back some time in the final section to finish just a step away from the podium.
Nadia Fanchini also delivered a good run, while rising talent Elena Curtoni finished outside the top 30 and failed to qualify for the second run; this “underwhelming” result was largely due to terrible visibility on the lower section of the course, where nearly all athletes lost between 2 and 4 seconds.
It was a one-way race not only because of the altitude and visibility, but also because of the new, less sidecut skis that forced skiers to adapt their style and adopt a new technique. These new skis even gave trouble to the great Lindsey Vonn, who finished mid-pack in this opening run with a very subdued performance.
Now we will wait and see what happens in the second run: whether Tina Maze can bring home the victory in the season opener, and above all whether the approaching snowfall will alter course conditions and perhaps shake up the final standings.
Tune in at 12:30 PM for live coverage on Rai Sport of the Second Run of the Women’s Giant Slalom in Sölden
No comments yet