Alice Robinson, Federica Brignone and Lara Colturi celebrate their giant slalom placings at Are. Photo: Jonas Ericsson/Agence Zoom
New Zealand alpine skier Alice Robinson has claimed her seventh consecutive World Cup giant slalom podium finish to maintain her lead in the series standings.
Robinson was second behind Italian archrival Federica Brignone at the eighth and penultimate World Cup round to notch her 17th career podium finish, setting up a thrilling finish to the series at Sun Valley, Idaho on 25 March, where Robinson and Brignone will battle for top spot.
The Kiwi saw her lead reduced to a mere 20 points, with 100 still to be won, and said she would need to perform better in Idaho.
"There are so many positives, although I wasn't very happy with my skiing in the first run and even the second run didn't feel very good," she said. "I think it was quite close with the times and I was lucky to come in second on the right side of the hundredths.
"Federica has been amazing with all these wins, but I guess me sticking close in second, it's keeping the points. It's cool that we get to have a final shootout in Sun Valley in a couple weeks."
Alice Robinson has seen her series lead reduced to just 20 points. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Robinson of Queenstown became the first New Zealand skier to secure a world championships medal, when she clinched silver behind Brignone in the giant slalom in Austria last month.
Brignone, 34, was fastest in both runs in Sweden and finished a hefty 1.36s ahead of Robinson, 23, to notch her ninth win of the season in all disciplines.
"She [Robinson] is again second and it's an amazing fight," Brignone said. "She's an amazing skier.
"It's a good fight. I'm happy actually to fight for this and to have such a great skier that plays with me."
High winds at the top of the course resulted in the use of a lower start and a shortened course for the athletes, who had to hunt for every hundredth of a second of speed.
Brignone was the first athlete on course, putting down an error-free run and setting the time to beat for the first run. Robinson sat in fifth after her first run, 0.65s off Brignone's time in the tight race.
Robinson tore down the course for her second run, skiing her way into the leader's seat, but with four athletes still to come, a podium was not yet guaranteed.
Her time held strong right up until Brignone put down a blistering second run to take the win, while Albanian Lara Colturi, 18, rounded out the podium in third.
Brignone's 36th career World Cup win increased her overall points lead to a mighty 322 points over closest rival Lara Gut-Behrami of Switzerland, who was ninth in the giant slalom.
- RNZ/Reuters
