Second place for Robinson

Queenstown's alpine ski racing sensation Alice Robinson has started her 2024/25 season with a bang.

The 22-year-old finished second at the FIS Giant Slalom World Cup season opener in Sölden, Austria.

"I am really happy, I haven’t been on the podium in Sölden since I won here five years ago, it is one of my favourite places to race," Robinson says.

Robinson, wearing bib two, put down an electrifying first run in Saturday's race, dominating the steep section and subsequent transition onto the flatter section of the piste, which was causing a number of the top athletes in the field to lose precious milliseconds.

After run one, she was sitting in second position, just +0.22 seconds behind run one leader American powerhouse Mikaela Shiffrin.

"I felt really solid on the top section, I felt confident and not too nervous in the start and I understood what I needed to do. I think I attacked really well and skied the pitch a lot better than I had when we trained here so I was really happy with that," Robinson says.

With the start order reversed for run two, Robinson was the second to last athlete to race down the course that was starting to see a deterioration in surface condition due to the 28 athletes who had gone down before her.

But she put down a blistering run, using her strength and power to maintain a strong, quick line throughout the bumpy course. Robinson finished in second place, just +0.17 of a second behind winner Federica Brignone of Italy.

"The second run was really challenging, especially on the top section, the steeps were bumpy and I have always found it quite challenging when the snow is soft, has a lot of moisture and is bumpy but I have been working hard on this so I am happy!”

Brignone claimed the 28th World Cup victory of her career, while Julia Scheib of Austria claimed third, for her career first World Cup podium in front of an ecstatic home crowd.

Sölden is the location of Robinson's maiden World Cup win in 2019, when she became the youngest female athlete to ever win the Sölden Giant Slalom World Cup.

“I haven’t been on the podium here since I won five years ago, it has always been one of my favourite races so it’s nice to come back this year and have some form."

The women’s FIS Giant Slalom World Cup circuit continues on 1 December (NZT) with the Killington World Cup set to be held in the USA.