Mikaela Shiffrin stretched her lead in the overall World Cup standings Sunday by finishing fourth in a giant slalom after closest rival Petra Vlhova failed to finish the first run.
Shiffrin seemed to ski more cautiously in the second run, after being second-fastest in the first leg, and ended 0.77 seconds behind the winner Tessa Worley.
Worley, a two-time world champion, finished 0.29 ahead of Federica Brignone. Olympic champion Sara Hector let her first-run lead slip to finish 0.31 behind Worley.
If Shiffrin was skiing to protect her lead in a season-long duel with Vlhová, the updated standings show the tactic worked in a successful weekend at Lenzerheide.
Shiffrin earned 50 points for Sunday’s race – her first giant slalom since crashing out after just 10 seconds at the Beijing Olympics – and built her lead to 117 with six events left in the next two weeks.
Shiffrin and Vlhová had been tied before the two-race meeting at the Swiss resort watched course-side by tennis great Roger Federer, who has a home within sight of the race hill.
Worley’s 16th career World Cup win, all in giant slalom, closed the gap in the discipline standings which are led by Hector with two races left.
“I’m super happy, it was a great day,” Worley said. “I felt confident, I wanted to attack. I didn’t ask myself any questions. It was 100 per cent attack. I knew I was fast. It paid off.”
It was the first time since December 2009 in Are, Sweden, when Worley won a giant slalom and Sandrine Aubert took the slalom that French women won two races in the same World Cup weekend.
The women’s World Cup circuit now moves to Hector’s home country Sweden for a giant slalom and slalom next weekend at Are. The season finishes at World Cup finals week in the neighboring French resorts of Courchevel and Meribel.
Shiffrin is seeking a fourth career overall World Cup title and Vlhova is defending her first title won last season.
On Saturday, Shiffrin took second in a tricky super-G won by the unheralded Romane Miradoli, marking an impressive return to form for the American star in her first race after a disastrous Winter Olympics where she took home no medals from six events.
