Outstanding: Swiss woman leaves everyone behind

In perfect conditions, Swiss Camille Rast took the lead in the first run of the World Cup slalom and goes into the second run with a comfortable lead – but the competition is not sleeping.

15. February 2025

From: do

Everything was set for an absolute slalom spectacle. Under a cloudless sky, the best skiers in the world fought for the last medals of these World Championships in Saalbach-Hinterglemm. The icy slope was perfect and a rhythmic run promised plenty of excitement - also because the favorites for medals could not be counted on one hand.

Camille Rast catapulted herself into pole position for the second run and now holds all the cards in her hand. The Swiss, who started the first run as the leader in the World Cup rankings, was brimming with self-confidence and converted this into a perfect starting position. With a calculated, aggressive swing into the snow, she put the absolute best time on the scoreboard. With a lead of more than half a second over the competition, she became the runner to beat in the second run.

Liensberger and Shiffrin in waiting position

The top candidates for the title are local hero Katharina Liensberger (+0,58), four-time slalom world champion Mikaela Shiffrin (+0,72) and Olympic medalist Wendy Holdener (+0,80). These three athletes showed strong runs, but could not reach Rast's heights.

Mikaela Shiffrin is on course for a medal. © ANSA / JEAN-CHRISTOPHE BOTT

The gap behind them widened noticeably. The American Paula Moltzan is in fifth place, 1,55 seconds behind. The athletes from the extended group of favorites, however, did not cope. The three-time winner of the season Zrinka Ljutic made a big mistake, so that she probably had to bury her medal chances after the first run with a deficit of 2,14 seconds. The same thing happened to the injured Lena Dürr (+1,93), Melanie Meillard (+2,50) and Sara Hector (+2,77).

Solide Azzurre

The best Azzurra on Saturday was Marta Rossetti. The 25-year-old finished 2,58th, 10 seconds behind, and has a good chance of making it into the top 19 in the second round. Lara Della Mea finished 3,40th (+4,75), while Martina Peterlini (+24/4,83th place) and Giorgia Collomb (+25/30th place) also finished in the top XNUMX.

The second round starts at 13:15 p.m.