Italy’s Federica Brignone fastest after first run in women’s giant slalom. Shiffrin sits seventh

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Federica Brignone waited 16 years to earn her first Olympic gold medal.

The wait for her second may be considerably shorter. The Italian star is in the lead through one run in the women’s alpine giant slalom at the Milan Cortina Olympics.

The 35-year-old, who finally stood atop the Olympic podium after claiming the super-G last week, was easily the fastest among the 76 competitors in the Dolomite Mountains above Cortina. 

American star Mikaela Shiffrin, looking for her first Olympic medal in eight years, sits seventh, just over a second back.

Brignone was the world champion in the GS last year, but that was before sustaining a broken left leg in March that required surgery, a handful of screws to repair and left her unable to walk for weeks, Brignone breezed through the 51-gate course in 1:03.23 to give her a sizable lead over the crowded field behind her.

“I tried to attack, to be clean and intelligent on the terrain changes and then toward the end, to anticipate the bumps — a bit like in the super-G,” Brignone said. “It was just a natural reaction for me. I had a proper run and it all came naturally to me.”

Lena Duerr of Germany is second, 0.34 behind Brignone, whose four Olympic medals are tied for the most by an Italian women in alpine racing history. Brignone’s teammate Sofia Goggia is third, 0.46 back.

There’s a large group giving chase. Defending Olympic champion Sara Hector of Sweden, Thea Louise Stjernesund of Norway and Lara Colturi of Albania all posted the fourth-fastest time at 1:03.97.

Running in pristine conditions, Stjernesund set the pace as the first one out of the starting gate. Hector, going next, matched her time exactly. Colturi, 10th among the starters, drew a roar from the crowd when her time flashed and matched Hector and Stjernsund’s down to the hundredth of a second.

Shiffrin, the 2018 Olympic champion in this event, entered Sunday trying to bounce back after a disappointing fourth place finish in the combined earlier in the Games, when her sluggish slalom run dropped Shiffrin and teammate and reigning Olympic downhill champion Breezy Johnson from first to fourth.

Shiffrin promised she would learn from her slalom run in the combined. While she was solid and never came close to danger, she also couldn’t quite find the speed of the leaders. None of her four timing splits ranked in the top four among early competitors.

Even a spectacular run might not have been enough to catch the electrifying Brignone. She had the second fastest-time in the first segment, the fastest in the second and the second-fastest in the fourth. 

Brignone, who made her Olympic debut at the 2010 Games in Vancouver and had a silver and two bronzes in her career under the rings coming to Cortina, is poised for her second golden finish in less than a week.

Julia Scheib, the current World Cup leader in giant slalom this season, sat 11th and isn’t optimistic anyone can catch Brignone.

“Perfect skiing,” Scheib said. “I mean she likes the snow. I noticed and it was not a huge surprise.”

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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics