(Reuters) – Italy’s Federica Brignone became the oldest woman to win a World Cup giant slalom event with her triumph on Saturday at Mont Tremblant, Quebec where Swiss Lara Gut-Behrami was unable to extend her perfect start to the season in the discipline.
Olympic silver medallist Brignone, who finished sixth in the giant slalom last week at Killington, led after the first run and went on to win by 21 hundredths of a second over Petra Vlhova with a total time of two minutes 14.95 seconds.
Mikaela Shiffrin, who won the slalom event at Killington in Vermont last week for a record-extending 90th World Cup win, finished third, 29 hundredths of a second back of Brignone.
“I came here after Killington weekend and there I didn’t have great sensations and I just wanted to show my skiing and to come here and just ski the way I want and the way I know,” said Brignone. “It’s amazing, a lot of pride.”
With her win, the 33-year-old Italian surpassed the record set by Austria’s Anita Wachter, who was 32 years and 319 days old when she won the World Cup giant slalom event at Lienz in December 1999.
“I’m the oldest, right?” Brignone said through laughter after the race. “I was for sure not feeling so great in the second run. The snow was good but then I felt a little bit like I was going slow and I said ‘ok you have to push now.'”
Gut-Behrami arrived at Mont Tremblant looking to become the first female skier to win each of the opening three World Cup giant slalom events from the start of a season since Slovenian Tina Maze won the first four in 2012-13.
Gut-Behrami was third fastest after Saturday’ first run but was unable to secure another win as she finished 59 hundredths of a second back of Brignone and in fifth place.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Toby Davis)
