Queenstown skier Alice Robinson has won the season ending Giant Slalom World Cup Finals in Switzerland.
Photo: SNOW SPORTS NZ
The 19 year old produced a stunning second run to deny Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin a 70th career victory.
American Shiffrin had led after the first leg in the Swiss resort, with Robinson in fourth. With 0.77 seconds to make up, Robinson produced the fastest run to beat the American by 0.28 seconds.
"It [run 2] didn't feel that amazing but in the past my fastest runs have never been the ones that have felt the best. I think when you are actually carrying the most speed you can it feels crazy, and it is hard to control and that's what it felt like".
The victory was Robinson's third in the World Cup, all in giant slalom, and first of the season. Slovenia's Meta Hrovat was third in a race held without spectators due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Italy's Marta Bassino had already won the World Cup giant slalom title and Shiffrin ended the season second in the standings, 126 points behind. She was also second in the slalom rankings behind Austrian Katharina Liensberger.
Robinson has now become the first woman to win three FIS World Cups before the age of 20 since Mateja Svet (1986-1988).
"It's super exciting, I still feel like I have a lot more to give and I have a long way to go to be consistently winning on the tour and that is my goal going forwards, to bring this kind of skiing to every race. It's not an easy job but it is something I am working towards".
"This year's has been tough, especially with Covid. I've been in Europe for nine months and haven't seen any family or been able to go home, it's been difficult but I feel like I've learnt a lot this year and learnt how to get back up after having some failures, so I am pretty proud about today".