Slovakia’s JASNA — Olympic champion Sara Hector dominated an exciting women’s World Cup giant slalom on Saturday to earn her first title in over two years, in a race marred by a dramatic fall from home fan favorite Petra Vlhova.
Hector beat American standout Mikaela Shiffrin by 1.52 seconds, setting the fastest time in both races. Alice Robinson of New Zealand came in third, a full 2.71 behind.
Early in her first run, Vlhova slipped and slid into the safety netting in front of 10,000 spectators in the Tatra mountains, near her hometown. She was brought off the slope on a sled with what appeared to be a knee injury.
Vlhova, Shiffrin’s primary slalom rival, was reportedly taken to a hospital for testing, according to her team.
Hector raced down the course in two almost perfect runs, displaying her usual all-or-nothing attitude.
It’s very incredible. Snow was a fantastic race, flawless. The Swede, who won her fifth World Cup overall, said, “This morning was nervous. I’ve been thinking a lot lately, but today was just crazy.” Her victory came in a GS in Italy two years ago, which was her final race before earning Olympic gold in Beijing.
Into her final run, Hector had a one-second advantage over Shiffrin, which she maintained at nearly every checkpoint.
Shortly after the race, Hector spoke to the large number of Slovakian supporters in the finish area interview.
It’s incredible that they stayed. Hector remarked, “You are a great crowd, but I feel so bad for Petra.”
Many racers encountered difficulties in the first run of the Lukova 2 course due to the ice’s slippage and an oddly twisting set of gates.
The leader of the GS standings, Federica Brignone, started the race but lost her footing after the fourth gate. The skier from Italy was unharmed.
Lara Gut-Behrami, who placed sixth in the race, ended 4.49 behind and topped the discipline standings, 25 points ahead of Brignone. Shiffrin trails the Swiss leader by 56 points in third place.
Prior to the race, Shiffrin led the overall standings with Vlhova and Brignone positioned second and third, respectively. The American wants to equal the record held by the women, who have won six World Cups in total.
According to Shiffrin, “I think that with this kind of surface, you have to feel 100 percent confident,” and even a tiny error “takes so much time away.”
Hector’s nearly faultless performance was noted by Shiffrin, who described the route designed in the first run as “very turning”.
“It’s clear that she performed admirably on her first attempt. I was feeling great,” Shiffrin remarked.
The final rankings showed some amazing margins: Croatian skier Zrinka Ljutic finished fourth, 4.33 seconds behind the winner. Even after finishing a whopping seven seconds behind the lead, a top-20 finish was still achievable.
The final event of the race weekend in Slovakia is a slalom on Sunday.
