Three American women cracked the top 15 in Saturday’s FIS World Cup giant slalom under tough, wintry conditions in Tremblant, with Mikaela Shiffrin leading the Stifel U.S. Ski Team in sixth place, Nina O’Brien in tenth, and Paula Moltzan in thirteenth.
Cold temperatures, fog, and light snow created demanding racing all day. Paula Moltzan, running early for the U.S., attacked aggressively but a major mid-course error dropped her to 20th after the first run. Nina O’Brien posted a solid opener just outside the top 15, while Mikaela Shiffrin laid down the third-fastest first run despite the tricky surface.
The second run brought even heavier snow and reduced visibility. Moltzan and O’Brien both charged hard, climbing seven and several spots respectively. Shiffrin, facing thick fog on her run, skied cleanly through the top section but lost a bit of time lower down, finishing sixth — her second strong GS result since returning from the serious injury she suffered in Killington more than a year ago.
“It felt very aggressive on the second run,” Shiffrin said afterward. “There were a couple of spots I wasn’t as clean as possible, but it’s really exciting to be back in the top-15 seed again.”
The result moves Shiffrin inside the critical top-15 World Cup Start List group for giant slalom, a significant milestone after she spent much of last season fighting just to re-enter the top 30.
New Zealand’s Alice Robinson took the victory, with Croatia’s Zrinka Ljutic in second and Canada’s Valerie Grenier rounding out the podium in front of an enthusiastic home crowd. Elisabeth Bocock did not finish, and Kjersti Moritz placed 31st.
The U.S. women return to the same Tremblant hill on Sunday for a second giant slalom, with O’Brien summing up the team’s mindset: “Tomorrow we’ll come out really hungry — we had some good sections today but we definitely want more.”
