Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany – Slovenian Tina Maze cashed in a bib one start number for the 2011 FIS Alpine World Ski Championship in giant slalom, holding off upstart Federica Brignone of Italy and a surging Tessa Worley of France for gold. Worley, the current Audi FIS Alpine World Cup giant slalom leader, won the second run to jump 16 places under fog and slow snow conditions to snag bronze. Americans Julia Mancuso, Sarah Schleper and Megan McJames finished 16th, 21st and 34th, respectively.nFog delayed the start of the race in Garmisch by two hours and softened course conditions, giving a distinct advantage to Maze, who was the silver medalist in the World Championships super combined. She held on for a wire-to-wire GS victory.
“Tina is a big event skier and it’s cool to see her really execute,” said Vail, Colo.’s Schleper, adding, “It’s hard to sit for an hour and half or two hours in first place and then come down and win the race.”
“On the speed side we’re always on delays, but with GS, there’s just that much more intensity. It’s hard to sit up there and wonder if you’re going or not – it makes you a little tired,” added Mancuso, of Squaw Valley, Calif. “The second run was really turny on the pitch and this hill has such a long flat that I think it just makes such a difference if you’re carrying speed or not. The snow is softer today, so you can’t generate any speed, you just have to take what you have from the pitch and hold on to it.”
Canada put three women into the top 30. Marie-Michèle Gagnon, of Lac-Etchemin, Quebec, put together a storming second run before clipping a gate near the end and finishing 23rd. Marie-Pier Préfontaine, of Saint-Sauveur, Quebec, was right behind Gagnon in 24th, while veteran Britt Janyk, of Whistler, British Columbia, stopped the clock at 28th.
They weren’t the results that they were looking for. Préfontaine, 22, and Gagnon, 21, young skiers with bright futures ahead of them, had been hoping for more after posting more promising results in the lead-up to the World Championships.
“It was not a good day but there are a lot of positives we can take forward,” said Jim Pollock, the Canadian women’s technical head coach. “We have the raw material that we need to win but we need a little more polish and more hard work. We’ve yet to see the girls put two really good runs together. When that happens they are going to be on the podium.”
The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships continue Friday with men’s giant slalom.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
2011 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships
Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany – February 17, 2011
Giant Slalom
1. Tina Maze, Slovenia, 2:20.54
2. Federica Brignone, Italy, 2:20.63
3. Tessa Worley, France, 2:21.02