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Women’s giant slalom

February 12, 2015

Viktoria Rebensburg clinched Germany's first medal at the 2015 alpine skiing world championships in Colorado, USA, on Thursday. But she had to settle for silver behind Anna Fenninger, who claimed Austria's fifth gold.

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Viktoria Rebensburg
Image: Getty Images/Al Bello

Germany’s Viktoria Rebensburg blew away the rest of the field in her second run in the women’s giant slalom at the alpine skiing world championships on Thursday, but the time she clawed back on Anna Fenninger was not enough to dislodge the Austrian from atop the podium.

Jessica Lindell-Vikarby of Sweden came in third at Beaver Creek, just nine one-hundredths of a second behind the German.

Fenninger held a comfortable cushion of 0.81 seconds over her compatriot Michaela Kirchgasser after a first run of 1 minute, 8.98 seconds, and she consolidated her lead when clocking 1 minute, 10.18 seconds on the second attempt.

It was Rebensburg who ultimately provided the stiffest competition, however, with the 25-year-old Bavarian racing down in 1 minute, 9.88 seconds on her final run to finish 1.4 seconds behind the winner.

"I tried to attack and had a great run. I gave it all I had," Rebensburg said of her race. "Now I am back in the giant slalom. I am happy with silver. Anna (Fenninger) was skiing in another league."

Kirchgasser, by contrast, finished over a second off the pace in her second run as she slipped to sixth overall.
Anna Fenninger
Fenninger celebrated Austria's fifth gold in Colorado.Image: picture-alliance/dpa/H. K. Techt


Slovenian skiing sensation Tina Maze placed fifth as she failed to add to her return of three medals in her first three races at Beaver Creek, following her downhill and combined golds plus a silver in the super-g earlier in the week.

Meanwhile superstar US skier Lindsey Vonn, racing her first competitive giant slalom in two years, was outside the top 25 as she trailed by 2.62 seconds after the first runs on Thursday, before recovering some ground to finish 14th overall.

Vonn had only managed super-g bronze in front of her hometown crowd and she shook her head as she crossed the line in what is her last race at the championships.

Fellow crowd favourite Mikaela Shiffrin, who grew up in nearby Eagle-Vail, could only finish eighth.

The last race left for the women is the slalom event, which begins with qualifying on Friday and concludes on Saturday.

The final of the men's giant slalom will be held on Friday.

pwh/msh (AFP, dpa)