St. Moritz, Switzerland – Slovenia’s Tina Maze made a bold statement in her quest to win the Audi FIS Alpine World Cup overall and giant slalom title by capturing her third straight race in the discipline on Sunday.
German Olympic GS champion Viktoria Rebensburg finished second with Tess Worley of France third. Defending overall champion Lindsey Vonn was fifth after the opening run and up nearly a full second in the final when she saved a mid race crash to finish 27th. Julia Mancuso battled high winds during her final run to lead the U.S. Ski Team with 21st and young gun Mikaela Shiffrin qualified for the final in 18th, but did not finish the second run.
Vonn said that she’s still feeling the effects of a stomach illness that left her hospitalized and halted her training regimen.
“I was just dead,” she explained. “Two-run races are really hard for me right now. I caught on the inside ski a little bit. Normally I should make that kind of recovery.”
Speaking of the second run, U.S. Ski Team head coach Alex Hoedlmoser said, “We wanted to attack and that’s what they did. Mikaela had a huge mistake and just slid out. Lindsey was over nine-tenths ahead on that split right before she made that huge mistake. But if you want to be on the podium you have to full on gun it. Our athletes weren’t in this just to finish the race. They want to make a statement.”
Maze now has a commanding 234-point lead in the overall title chase. Vonn sits third behind German Maria Hoefl-Riesch.
“I have a lot of respect for Tina. She’s skiing amazing right now and what she’s doing is really good for the sport,” said Vonn, adding, “I really have my work cut out for me in tech events.”
The women’s World Cup now transitions back to speed events where the U.S. women have captured eight of 12 podiums this season including four wins by speed specialist Vonn.
“I have got to win every speed race,” Vonn acknowledged. “I just have to rest up for next weekend. Right now, I’m definitely not feeling great.”
OFFICIAL RESULTS
Audi FIS Alpine World Cup
St. Moritz, Switzerland – Dec. 9, 2012
Women’s Giant Slalom
| Rank | Bib | Name | Year | Nation | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total Time | FIS Points |
| 1 | 7 | MAZE Tina | 1983 | SLO | 1:05.55 | 1:05.52 | 2:11.07 | 0.00 |
| 2 | 5 | REBENSBURG Viktoria | 1989 | GER | 1:06.12 | 1:05.03 | 2:11.15 | 0.54 |
| 3 | 3 | WORLEY Tessa | 1989 | FRA | 1:06.08 | 1:05.54 | 2:11.62 | 3.73 |
| 4 | 8 | GUT Lara | 1991 | SUI | 1:06.64 | 1:05.49 | 2:12.13 | 7.20 |
| 5 | 18 | SCHILD Marlies | 1981 | AUT | 1:07.51 | 1:05.84 | 2:13.35 | 15.48 |
| 6 | 14 | ZETTEL Kathrin | 1986 | AUT | 1:07.43 | 1:05.96 | 2:13.39 | 15.75 |
| 7 | 19 | KIRCHGASSER Michaela | 1985 | AUT | 1:07.59 | 1:05.98 | 2:13.57 | 16.98 |
| 7 | 13 | CURTONI Irene | 1985 | ITA | 1:07.61 | 1:05.96 | 2:13.57 | 16.98 |
| 9 | 16 | HOEFL-RIESCH Maria | 1984 | GER | 1:07.47 | 1:06.33 | 2:13.80 | 18.54 |
| 10 | 17 | GISIN Dominique | 1985 | SUI | 1:07.25 | 1:06.69 | 2:13.94 | 19.49 |