Printable Page
01/20 08:38 CST Federica Brignone shows competitive skiing on return from
injury with Olympics approaching
Federica Brignone shows competitive skiing on return from injury with Olympics
approaching
SAN VIGILIO DI MAREBBE, Italy (AP) --- Defending overall World Cup champion
Federica Brignone is back skiing after a nine-month injury layoff and already
competitive with the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics little more than two weeks
away.
Mikaela Shiffrin, meanwhile, keeps regaining ground in giant slalom.
Austria's Julia Scheib, though, is the racer to beat in GS.
Scheib claimed her fourth giant slalom victory of the season Tuesday, moving up
from third after the opening run to finish 0.37 seconds ahead of Camille Rast
and 0.46 ahead of defending Olympic champion Sara Hector, who led after the
first run at the Kronplatz resort.
Shiffrin placed fourth, 0.86 behind, and Brignone was sixth, 1.23 back.
"It was really tough with all of the emotions I had today, so I was really
happy to see the green light," Brignone said. "It's been nine difficult, tough
months, so I'm proud of myself. It was all new again for me in terms of
emotions. I'm really happy that I raced today. If I had waited for the Olympics
to return it might have all been too much."
The 27-year-old Scheib had never won a World Cup race before this season but
now she leads the discipline standings with a comfortable margin of 139 points
ahead of Rast.
Shiffrin, the American winner of a record 107 World Cup races, has not finished
on the podium in giant slalom in exactly two years --- since before her crash
in Killington, Vermont, in Nov. 2024.
Shiffrin won the Kronplatz race three times, including in 2023 when with
victory No. 83 she broke the all-time women's wins record previously held by
Lindsey Vonn.
It was Brignone's first race since breaking multiple bones in her left leg in
April --- which resulted in two surgeries --- 42 stitches to put her leg back
together --- and months of rehab.
"When I stuck my poles out I said to myself, ?I'm not sure if I'm ready.' My
hand was shaking," Brignone said after the opening run. "I started off quite
rigid, which makes it tough in these conditions. But then I remembered to
breathe after the first checkpoint and then it went a bit better."
Brignone won't compete in the next set of technical races this weekend in
Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic. Instead, she'll head to nearby Cortina
d'Ampezzo, where the women will race during the Olympics, for some speed
training.
"I want to see if I'm able to participate in the races. I need to gain a bit
more confidence so I can really charge," Brignone said. "Right now, I make two
or three good turns and then I hold back on the next one. But I'm leaving San
Vigilio happy and confident."
Sofia Goggia, another Italian, lost control midway down and didn't finish her
first run.
Also for the U.S. team, Paula Moltzan was eighth and 20-year-old Elisabeth
Bocock was a career-best 12th.
Nina O'Brien had fast splits in her second run before losing control on the
steep slope midway down. The American spun around and slid down before coming
to a stop near the safety netting. She got right back up and appeared to avoid
serious injury.
___
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
|
