CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Italy’s Federica Brignone is on the verge of winning a second gold medal at the Cortina Olympics in Milan.
The 35-year-old won the super-G event last week to win the first Olympic gold medal of her long career and was easily the fastest of the early entrants in the women’s alpine giant slalom in Tofani on Sunday. American star Mikaela Shiffrin, who is seeking her first Olympic medal in eight years, is seventh, just behind in second.
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Brignone was the world champion at last year’s GS, but before that she fractured her left leg in March, requiring surgery to repair some screws and leaving her unable to walk for weeks. Brignone breezed through the 51-gate field in 1 minute, 03.23 seconds, giving her a sizable lead over the crowded field behind her.
Germany’s Lena Duell was second, 0.34 points behind Brignone. Brignone’s four Olympic medals tie her with the most medals in Italian women’s alpine history. Brignone’s teammate Sofia Goggia was third, 0.46 behind.
There was a large group of people chasing him. Defending Olympic champion Sara Hector of Sweden, Thea Louise Stjernesund of Norway and Lara Colturi of Albania were all fourth in 1:03.97.
Running in pristine conditions, Stjernesund became the first out of the starting gate. The next Hector was exactly on time with her. Colturi, who was 10th on the starting line, drew cheers from the crowd when her time flashed past and matched Hector and Sternsund’s times to the nearest hundredth of a second.
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Shiffrin, the 2018 Olympic champion, finished a disappointing fourth in the event after a poor performance in the slalom on Sunday dropped Shiffrin and teammate and reigning Olympic downhill champion Breeze Johnson from first to fourth.
Shiffrin promised she would learn from competing in the slalom. While she was solid and never came close to danger, she also couldn’t quite find the leader’s speed. None of her four time trials finished in the top four among early competitors.
Even a spectacular run might not be enough to catch the exciting Brignone. She was second fastest on the first leg, fastest on the second leg, and second fastest on the fourth leg.
It took Brignone 16 years to win her first Olympic gold after making her debut at the 2010 Vancouver Games, and she may only have to wait a few days for her second.
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Julia Scheib, this season’s World Cup giant slalom leader in 11th place, isn’t optimistic anyone can catch Brignone.
“Perfect skiing,” Scheib said. “I mean she loves the snow. I’ve noticed, it’s not surprising.”
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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
