Mikaela Shiffrin secured a spot on the podium in a World Cup giant slalom event for the first time in two years on Saturday in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czechia. She finished third in the final GS race before the upcoming Milan Cortina Olympics. The race was clinched by defending Olympic champion Sara Hector, who maintained her lead from the initial run for her first win since January 2025.
Expressing her joy in a post-race interview, the Swedish victor acknowledged the tough competition, emphasizing the need for continuous hard work. Shiffrin, the 2018 Olympic GS gold medalist, trailed Hector by 0.23 seconds and shared the podium with her American teammate Paula Moltzan, who was 0.18 seconds behind the leader.
Canada’s Britt Richardson achieved a top-10 finish, completing the race in 2:27.05, landing in ninth place, 3.19 seconds off Hector’s winning time. Shiffrin, boasting the women’s record of 22 World Cup GS victories, hadn’t secured a top-three finish in the discipline in 11 races since placing second in a Slovakian event in January 2024.
After a series of setbacks, including a crash and injuries, Shiffrin returned to the podium after accumulating three fourth-place finishes this season. This achievement comes three weeks before the Olympic competition in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Paula Moltzan, aiming for her first career win, secured her third podium finish of the season, leading a strong U.S. team performance, with Nina O’Brien in fifth place and AJ Hurt in eighth. In the initial run, Hector narrowly beat Switzerland’s Camille Rast by 0.02 seconds, with Austria’s Julia Scheib, the current GS rankings leader, trailing in third by 0.26 seconds.
The overall World Cup champion Federica Brignone, who recently returned from a nine-month injury break, and her Italian teammate Sofia Goggia, the 2018 Olympic downhill champion, opted out of the Czechia event. They are preparing for a weekend of speed races in Switzerland ahead of the upcoming home Olympics. Another slalom event is scheduled on the same course for Sunday.