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Moltzan wins 1st World Cup race, Shiffrin finishes 7th in
season-opening giant slalom

   The Associated Press | Posted: October 24, 2026 2:25 PM | Last
   Updated: 21 hours ago

   Canada's Britt Richardson 4th after 1st run, ends competition
   in 27th

   Image | 2301243113

   Caption: American skier Mikaela Shiffrin is shown in action
   during the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Women's giant slalom on
   Saturday in Soelden, Austria. (Alexis Boichard/Agence
   Zoom/Getty Images)
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   American Paula Moltzan broke through with her first career
   World Cup win while Mikaela Shiffrin finished the women's giant
   slalom in seventh as the alpine ski racing season opened on
   Saturday.
   Shiffrin led after the first run in Sölden, Austria, on the
   Rettenbach glacier. But her second run wasn't good enough and
   sent the Olympic slalom champion down to seventh.
   When Shiffrin crossed the line, it was Moltzan who was left
   celebrating her first World Cup win at age 32.
   “It feels like a fairy tale right now, pretty unreal,” Moltzan
   said.
   For years Moltzan has been considered the second-best technical
   skier on the American team behind Shiffrin.
     * Canadian skier Valérie Grenier injured in training ahead of
       World Cup season opener

   The Minnesota native grew up idolizing Lindsey Vonn, skiing on
   the same hill in Minnesota where Vonn learned to race. Both of
   her parents were ski instructors at Buck Hill, and Moltzan
   moved into the elite program led by Vonn’s former coach, Erich
   Sailer, when she was 12.
   In February, Moltzan won an Olympic bronze medal in team
   combined at last season’s Milan Cortina Games with teammate
   Jacqueline Wiles. A year before that, Moltzan won bronze in
   giant slalom at the world championships. Otherwise, her career
   had been marked by near misses.
   WATCH | Moltzan wins World Cup giant slalom:

   Media Video |

   Caption: Paula Moltzan bested teammate Mikaela Shiffrin with a
   time of 2:14.82 to win the giant slalom, securing her first
   career victory.
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   significantly more data usage than loading CBC Lite story
   pages.
   Lara Colturi of Albania was second on Saturday. Germany's Emma
   Aicher, who last season finished second to Shiffrin in the
   overall title standings, was third.
   Britt Richardson of Canmore, Alta., was 27th.

Shiffrin shifts focus this season

   Shiffrin’s sixth World Cup overall title last season equaled
   the women’s record set in the 1970s by Austrian great Annemarie
   Moser-Pröll. But Shiffrin has called this campaign an
   “exploration season” in which she will reduce her slalom races
   and focus more on giant slalom and super-G.
   The 31-year-old hasn’t won a giant slalom race in nearly three
   years, going back to December 2023, while her last super-G
   victory was in 2022.
   Shiffrin used to race and win in all disciplines, but she had
   reduced her schedule in recent years after she endured
   terrifying crashes in a downhill in Cortina in early 2024 and a
   GS in Killington 10 months later. Her 22 career victories in
   giant slalom remain the women’s record, as are her 73 wins in
   slalom and 110 wins overall.
   A men's giant slalom will be held at Sölden on Sunday.
   WATCH | Canada's Richardson finishes 27th in Austria:

   Media Video |

   Caption: Britt Richardson of Canmore, Alta., was fourth overall
   after her first run and ended up as the top Canadian giant
   slalom competitor in Austria.
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