Following four podium finishes in the Downhill and Super-G, Lara Gut-Behrami notches up her first podium of the season in the Giant Slalom. The Swiss athlete came second in Kronplatz.  

"With Lara Gut-Behrami's second place and six HEAD World Cup Rebels in the top 15, this was another great race day for us. It was a good result for Lara Gut-Behrami and she can be very satisfied with her 80 points. It was a shame though that Sara Hector dropped out on the second run," said HEAD Racing Director Rainer Salzgeber. "The way the course was set on the first run was borderline. It raises the question of whether it shouldn't be categorised as a Super-G. With Sara Hector, Lara Gut-Behrami and Camille Rast, we are well positioned in the women's Giant Slalom for the World Championships. Although it always depends on what happens on the day in a major competition, we will be heading to Saalbach with great confidence."

"Now I can build on the last races"

Lara Gut-Behrami started the second run in second place and retained that position in the final result. For the 33-year-old Swiss athlete, this is the first podium finish of the season in the Giant Slalom. Previously, she has already stood on the podium four times in the speed disciplines with a third place in the Downhill in Beaver Creek, and second places in the Super-G in Beaver Creek, St. Moritz and Cortina d'Ampezzo. "Things are looking good. In September I was still struggling with my self-confidence. Step by step I have now fought my way back. I am satisfied with that. Things have been getting better since September and that's great. I was very tired after the last race, and I did everything I could to ski actively. I still had health problems at the beginning of the season, but now I can build on the last races. I need to gain more confidence in myself and focus on making fewer mistakes," said Lara Gut-Behrami at the finish.

Sara Hector second in the Giant Slalom World Cup

Sara Hector was in third place at half time, but dropped out on the second run. This puts the Swedish athlete in second place overall in the Giant Slalom World Cup, just four points behind the new leader Alice Robinson. The second-fastest HEAD skier in Kronplatz was Camille Rast from Switzerland in ninth place. A total of six HEAD World Cup Rebels finished in the top 15: Kajsa Vickhoff Lie from Norway in eleventh place, A J Hurt from the USA was 13th, Stephanie Brunner from Austria 14th, and Wendy Holdener from Switzerland 15th. World Cup points also went to Lena Dürr from Germany in 22nd place, Ilaria Ghisalberti from Italy who was 23rd, and Vanessa Kasper from Switzerland who finished in 27th place.