America’s Mikaela Shiffrin has begun the Alpine Ski Season with the 70th World Cup win of her career. Her victory was determined after a fabulous second run in the Women’s Giant Slalom at Soelden, Austria. In the first run down the Rettenbach glacier, Shiffrin was 0.02 seconds slower than Switzerland’s Lara Gut-Behrami.
Swiss player Marco Odermatt started the Men’s Alpine ski season with a victory in the opening Giant Slalom. He was the fastest finisher after two runs on the steep course on the Rettenbech glacier and finished 0.07 seconds ahead of first-run leader Roland Leitinger of Austria.
The Alpine Ski World Cup consists of competitions in four disciplines: Slalom, Giant Slalom, Super G, and Downhill. The fifth event, the Combined, employs the Downhill and Slalom. The event is a season-opener for the Winter Olympics, scheduled to be conducted in Beijing in 2022, where Alpine Skiing is one of the signature competitions.