Canada's Val Grenier wins gold in rain-marred giant slalom World Cup
St. Isidore, Ont., native uses blistering 2nd run to top podium in Slovenia
Val Grenier has made a triumphant return to the resort of her first World Cup victory.
The Canadian skier won a giant slalom Saturday on the same hill in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia where she celebrated her maiden career win a year ago.
"I've been close to the podium so many times this season it feels great to stand on it today," Grenier told Alpine Canada. "Coming off last season's win here I felt a little more pressure this morning. I had a big mistake in the first run, and I was very determined in the second run to really go for it so it's very rewarding to get the win.
"I'm not really sure why it seems to be a really good hill for me, and that last pitch is always one of my best parts. I'm not really sure why it just seems to be fitting for me, but I will take it."
The St. Isidore, Ont., native finished in a two-run time of one minute 50.51 seconds. Grenier was fourth after the opening run but her 53.61 mark was tops in all second runs to take the win on the Podkoren course.
Looming in fourth, Grenier posted the best time in the second run on a course set by Canadian coach Pierre Miniotti and saw the three fastest racers from the opening leg all fail to beat her.
"I feel like I have no words. I am just so happy, so proud. It's crazy," said Grenier, who has placed inside the top 10 in all six World Cup GS races this season.
WATCH | Grenier strikes gold in Slovenia:
Last year, she became the first Canadian to win a women's World Cup giant slalom in 49 years. She ended the season with another GS podium at the World Cup finals in Soldeu, Andorra.
Grenier, who was the junior world champion in downhill in 2016, has no World Cup podiums in other disciplines.
'I couldn't attack as I wanted'
Switzerland's Lara Gut-Behami (1:50.88) and Italy's Federica Brignone (1:51.02) rounded out the podium in silver and bronze-medal positions, respectively.
"A podium is always satisfying," said Brignone, who won back-to-back giant slaloms in Mont Tremblant, Que., in early December. "For sure, today I feel like I didn't do my best. I was missing little things, especially in the second run, I couldn't attack as I wanted."
WATCH | Full coverage of women's giant slalom: Saturday's 2nd run:
Petra Vlhova, who edged out Brignone by 0.02 to lead after the first run, dropped to fourth.
Brignone led the discipline standings before the race after she won two of the five previous giant slaloms.
Britt Richardson of Canmore, Alta., was 19th of 26 finishers in 1:53.16. Cassidy Gray (59.01) of Invermere, B.C., didn't finish her second run, while Sarah Bennett of Stoneham, Que., did not qualify for the final run after opening in 1:00.72.
Grenier showed her strength in the opening run when she posted the fastest times in two of the four sections of the Podkoren course. However, she lost nearly three-quarters of a second due to a mistake before entering the finish pitch.
"After the first run I was pretty mad at myself for the mistake," said Grenier, adding she told herself before the final run: "Now I wanted to win."
Conservative 1st run
In the rain-marred race, Mikaela Shiffrin finished in ninth position, nine days after the American won the previous GS in Austria. It was the American's worst in 15 giant slaloms since finishing 13th in Killington, Vt., in November 2022.
Shiffrin avoided major mistakes in what seemed like a rather conservative first run as the world champion from the United States lost time on then-leader Vlhova at each checkpoint and finished 0.98 off the pace in seventh.
Shiffrin lost more time in the second run, posting only the 22nd time from the 26 racers that finished.
Aiming for her sixth title this season, Shiffrin still leads the overall standings, though runner-up Brignone closed the gap to 232 points.
The lower part of the Podkoren course was softened by persistent rainfall since Friday afternoon, though organizers managed to keep it just hard enough for the race by putting salt on it several times.
"The slope was really nice, I have to say, even though it's raining and it's really wet. It was OK," said Gut-Behrami, the 2016 overall champion who won the first two giant slaloms of the season.
It was the first race of 2024 for the women, who usually start a new year in Zagreb but the Croatian resort was left off the calendar this season.
The women's World Cup continues on Sunday with the slalom event. Live streaming of the second run begins on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app, and CBC Gem beginning at 6:30 a.m. ET.
With files from CBC Sports
