Federica Brignone of Italy picked up her first World Cup victory in two seasons by winning a women’s giant slalom on Saturday. Mikaela Shiffrin finished in third place in Mont-Tremblant, Que.
Brignone covered the two legs on foggy Mont Tremblant — which hadn’t hosted a World Cup ski race in 40 years — in a combined time of two minutes 14.95 seconds. Petra Vlhova of Slovakia was second fastest in 2:15.16, followed by overall World Cup leader Shiffrin in 2:15.24.
Shiffrin was denied what would have been a record-extending 91st career World Cup win.
Valerie Grenier of St. Isidore, Ont., was the fastest Canadian with an eighth-place finish. She posted the sixth-fastest opening run with a time of 1:07.27, but her second go of 1:09.53 was just the 19th fastest.
Britt Richardson of Canmore, Alta., came 15th and Cassidy Gray of Panorama, B.C., was 24th.
WATCH l Brignone skis to gold in World Cup giant slalom:
Featured VideoItaly’s Federica Brignone was the fastest at the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup women’s giant slalom race in Mont-Tremblant, Que.
Earlier in the day, Justine Clement of Stoneham, Que., and Justine Lamontagne of Mont Sainte-Anne, Que., missed the cut at 51st and 54th, respectively. Sarah Bennett, also of Stoneham, hit a gate and did not finish.
Brignone had the quickest opening leg in the morning and held on for the win with the third-best run in the afternoon. The only better second legs were turned in by Vlhova and Shiffrin.
Sara Hector of Sweden was second fastest in the first run but faded to fourth, and Lara Gut-Behrami of Switzerland went from third place to fifth.
WATCH l Full replay of 2nd run in Mont-Tremblant:
Featured VideoWatch the final run of the women’s giant slalom from the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup event in Mont-Tremblant, Que.
Brignone was the 2020 World Cup overall champion and the silver medalist in the giant slalom at last year’s Beijing Olympics, behind Hector. Gut-Behrami took the bronze at the Winter Games.
Shiffrin won the GS season title last season while setting the record for most career wins in the discipline with 21. She finished sixth in this season’s opener, then was third in Killington.
It’s the first time since 1983 that Mont-Tremblant is hosting a World Cup alpine event. A second women’s giant slalom race is scheduled for Sunday.
Live coverage continues Sunday at 11 a.m. ET on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem.