This article was originally published by Snow Sports NZ on 11 February 2024.
Snow Sports NZ athlete Alice Robinson (Queenstown, 22) has finished in second place at the FIS Giant Slalom World Cup held in Andorra overnight.
Robinson put down two blistering runs to finish on the podium for the third consecutive Giant Slalom World Cup race, finishing just one hundredth of a second behind the winner Lara Gut-Behrami of Switzerland.
Robinson said, “I am really happy, another podium is amazing, it’s always a bit bittersweet to be one hundredth [of a second] on the wrong side, but that’s how it goes and maybe by the end of the season it will be the other way around and I will win by one hundredth of a second!”
Robinson was the sixth athlete on course today, and as always pushed out of the start gate with a huge amount of energy. A very fast second split, combined with three other solid splits had Robinson sitting in third position after run one, just +0.11 seconds behind leader Marta Bassino of Italy.
After run one Robinson explained, “The snow was interesting, it felt like some turns it was really grippy, some of it was quite slick and some of it the snow was a bit softer, so I had to adapt the whole way down.
“It’s very tight, so the second run is going to be interesting. I will try to clean it up and push where I can, but on this slope you need to be careful where you push and where you need to pull back a bit.”
With the top thirty racers reversed for the second run, Robinson was the third to last racer on course today.
Robinson put down a strong run, attacking the course with her trademark dynamic skiing and giving it 110%. She finished an incredibly close one hundredth of second behind current leader Gut-Behrami, sitting in second position with just the Italian racers Federica Brignone and Marta Bassino left to take their runs.
In the end, Gut-Behrami was untouchable in the leaders seat and took the win with Robinson finishing very closely behind her in second place. American A J Hurt claimed her first Giant Slalom World Cup podium of her career, rounding out the podium in third.
Robinson explained, “I am really happy with how I am skiing and really happy with another podium. I think I have made a big step with my consistency and I am doing really well on different snow conditions. I am really happy with how it’s heading and maybe I can get a win before the end of the season!”
This marks Robinson’s fourth World Cup podium result this season and the ninth World Cup podium of her career. Tonight is not the first time Robinson has had success in Soldeu – it is the very slope where she burst onto the global alpine ski racing scene when, at just 17 years old, she claimed her first World Cup podium in March 2019.
The women’s FIS World Cup season continues with a change of pace to speed events for the next three weekends, before rounding out the Giant Slalom season with the final two World Cup races in March.
P: Alexis Boichard / Agence Zoom
