Giant slalom in Semmering: Brignone celebrates second win of the season

Federica Brignone celebrated her second victory of the season at the giant slalom in Semmering. The Italian won ahead of Sweden’s Sara Hector and Alice Robinson from New Zealand. Lena Dürr was the only German to collect World Cup points.

Brignone conquered the Magic Mountain on Saturday (December 28, 2024) in 2:03.14 minutes and brought her lead from the first run across the finish line in the final. This meant she was on top of the podium for the second time this winter after her victory in Sölden.

Sara Hector was closest. The Swede moved up from third to second place in the second run, but in the end she had to admit defeat by almost six tenths of a second (+0.57 seconds). New Zealand’s Alice Robinson came third, improving by three places in the second round (+0.90 seconds).

Gut-Behrami makes a mistake and misses the podium

Lara Gut-Behrami entered the final in second place, but made a mistake in the middle section when she got stuck with one hand on the gate. Suddenly she found herself standing sideways on the slope, the overall World Cup winner from last winter, who also won the small crystal ball in the giant slalom, could no longer make up the gap. She fell back to ninth place (+1.26 seconds).

Dürr catches up in the second round

Lena Dürr wanted to make amends after her elimination in the giant slalom in Killington and she succeeded. In the first round she narrowly qualified for the second run in 28th place. She started early and used the piste, which was hardly used at the time, to her advantage. Dürr finished the race in 2:06.31 minutes and came 22nd.

In the second run it was “significantly more fun” said the athlete from SV Germering in the ZDF interview, who was able to gain a total of six places. The slope was “in very good condition“, said Dürr, who was happy with her placement: “If it’s around 20, that’s completely fine.” On Sunday, Dürr will start in the slalom in her flagship discipline.

Aicher is eliminated again

Emma Aicher was the second DSV driver in the final alongside Dürr. But the 21-year-old was eliminated after the second intermediate time. For the fourth time this season she was unable to finish the race. Jana Fritz (38th/+3.16 seconds) and Fabiana Dorigo (44th/+3.28 seconds) were not even in the second run.