Mikaela Shiffrin was on the brink of a 63rd alpine skiing World Cup win on Saturday after taking the lead in the first run of the women’s giant slalom in Lienz.
Shiffrin bounced back from a hugely disappointing 17th place in Courchevel earlier this month by racing down the slope in Austria in one minute 1.27sec on the first run, 0.61sec ahead of Italy’s Marta Bassino.
The 24-year-old American was a further 0.13sec ahead of another Italian, Federica Brignone, who leads the giant slalom standings but is second in the overall table, trailing Shiffrin by 165 points. The three-time defending World Cup overall champion is currently joint second for individual women’s World Cup victories with Austrian Annemarie Moser-Proell, behind retired Lindsey Vonn’s 82.