Shiffrin leads giant slalom after first run as ski racing season starts in Austria

Sölden, Austria - Mikaela Shiffrin, the American Alpine ski star, led after the first run of the women's giant slalom during the season's opening event in Sölden, Austria on Saturday. This marked the start of the Alpine ski racing season. Shiffrin completed the course on the Rettenbach glacier in a time of 1 minute, 7.27 seconds, edging out Sweden's Sara Hector and Switzerland's Camille Rast, who followed in second and third respectively.

Shiffrin's record-breaking sixth World Cup overall title last season tied the women's record set in the 1970s by Austrian legend Annemarie Moser-Pröll. However, the Olympic slalom champion has described this campaign as an "exploration season," aiming to reduce her slalom races and increase her focus on giant slalom and super-G.

The 31-year-old hasn't won a giant slalom race in nearly three years, since December 2023, and her last super-G victory was in 2022. Shiffrin used to compete in all disciplines but has scaled back her schedule in recent years following terrifying crashes in a downhill in Cortina in early 2024 and a giant slalom in Killington 10 months later.

Her 22 career victories in giant slalom remain the women's record, as do her 73 wins in slalom and 110 wins overall.