Lienz, Austria – Lindsey Vonn proved today that sometimes the easy courses are the most difficult, failing to finish her first run in the giant slalom in Lienz and losing more ground on the overall World Cup to Switzerland’s Lara Gut.
“It’s easy – you just gotta hammer it and move with the terrain,” commented Vonn after inspecting the first run. However, Vonn got a little to low and straight and did not finish.
Gut won the race, extending her overall World Cup lead over Vonn to 158 points. Liechtenstein’s Tina Weirrather was second, followed by Germany’s Rebensburg in third. Eva-Marie Brem of Austria finished fourth, surrendering her World Cup giant slalom lead to Gut by 8 points.
Park City, Utah’s Megan McJames snuck into the second run after tying for 30th in the first run. Her final placement in 25th, the best on Monday for the U.S. women, was her first top-30 result of the season, and the 11th top-30 World Cup giant slalom result of her career.
“Obviously I’m happy,” said McJames, who last competed in a second run of World Cup giant slalom more than a year ago at Soelden, Austria. “I’ve been working on my skiing to try and get it more consistent in the races – because I have that fast gear, I just need to do it more often.”
After posting the top time in the first run, Slovenia’s Ana Drev was well on her way to winning her first career World Cup giant slalom, but slid out in sight of the finish, becoming one of five racers not to finish the second run.
Meanwhile, Gut is Vonn’s strongest competition for the overall title, and has proven almost unstoppable this season with four World Cup victories, including giant slalom and combined victories last week in Courchevel.
“I’ve been training a lot of giant slalom,” Gut said, when asked of her newfound success in the tech events. “I changed skis this year, and that has certainly helped. Also, when you start winning, it’s easier to be comfortable on the snow.”
Next up, the women race slalom on Tuesday in Lienz with Resi Stiegler, of Jackson, Wyo., representing the USA.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
FIS Alpine Ski World Cup
Lienz, Austria – Dec. 28, 2015
Women’s Giant Slalom
| Rank | Name | Nation | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total | Diff. |
| 1 | GUT Lara | SUI | 1:01.74 | 1:04.26 | 2:06.00 | |
| 2 | WEIRATHER Tina | LIE | 1:01.90 | 1:04.22 | 2:06.12 | +0.12 |
| 3 | REBENSBURG Viktoria | GER | 1:01.94 | 1:04.36 | 2:06.30 | +0.30 |
| 4 | BREM Eva-Maria | AUT | 1:01.78 | 1:04.58 | 2:06.36 | +0.36 |
| 5 | BRIGNONE Federica | ITA | 1:02.41 | 1:04.23 | 2:06.64 | +0.64 |
| 6 | KIRCHGASSER Michaela | AUT | 1:02.93 | 1:04.44 | 2:07.37 | +1.37 |
| 7 | MARSAGLIA Francesca | ITA | 1:02.83 | 1:04.69 | 2:07.52 | +1.52 |
| 8 | HANSDOTTER Frida | SWE | 1:02.69 | 1:05.01 | 2:07.70 | +1.70 |
| 9 | CURTONI Irene | ITA | 1:02.94 | 1:04.94 | 2:07.88 | +1.88 |
| 10 | CURTONI Elena | ITA | 1:03.82 | 1:04.08 | 2:07.90 | +1.90 |