Italy dominates on the American slopes. The history of Italian skiing now includes the women’s giant slalom in Aspen, which evokes memories of the historic hat trick of 2 March 1996, when Deborah Compagnoni, Sabina Panzanini and Isolde Kostner took the top three places in the giant slalom in Narvik. This is exactly what happened yesterday, on the American slopes, with the superlative Federica Brignone winning both rounds, resulting in three seasonal achievements (five in her career) as she positions herself as the true star of the giant slalom. This marks the thirtieth victory in the history of the women’s giant slalom. Sofia Goggia took second place, getting the competition back on track by taking second place in the second leg, bringing her podium finishes to a total of 13 this season. This impressive roadmap puts her in third place in the discipline’s final rankings with 405 points, behind Worley (685) and Shiffrin (600). Brignone comes in fourth, and Bassino takes sixth place. Yet Goggia also takes third place behind Shiffrin and Stuhec in the overall rankings, with 1197 points, a new Italian women’s record.

Marta Bassino, recently named “Young Skier of the Year”, achieved three podium finishes this season and completes Italian’s great treble on the American snow. Overall, Italy’s women boldly lead the national rankings with 4911 points, almost 1000 points more than Austria, which finished with 3918. Other Italian athletes included: 17th Irene Curtoni, 23rd Laura Pirovano, whilst Manuela Moelgg went out in the second round.
Italy’s ski team is taking a leap forward, with the overall number of podium finishes increasing to 43, a record-breaking number in a season that is sanctifying the veritable new Italian Avalanche.