Alice Robinson continues podium streak with second place finish at Giant Slalom World Cup
If there was any doubt Alice Robinson was back in optimum form, there’s no doubt now as the New Zealand athlete Alice Robinson from Queenstown on New Zealand’s South Island (though born in Australia) took the silver medal at the FIS Giant Slalom World Cup held in Kronplatz, Italy overnight.
Twenty two year old Robinson carried her momentum from last week’s third place finish in Jasná. Today’s silver marks the eighth World Cup podium of her career.
She shared the second step of the podium with Sweden’s Sara Hector, who she tied for second place.
Clear skies and temperature of -6 Celsius provided great conditions for the athletes, with Robinson’s coach Nils Coberger setting the 42 gate course for the first run.
“The slope is challenging because there is a lot of terrain, it is flat at the top then goes into steep sections, it has rolls and a sidehill – a bit of everything so it’s quite challenging, but it’s a really awesome slope and it’s fun to ski,” said Robinson.
She had the greenlight for the first section and then maintained a solid pace through the remainder of the course to finish run one +0.59 behind run one leader Lara Gut-Behrami of Switzerland.
“This isn’t a slope I have ever felt particularly comfortable or really confident at, so I am really happy to have a solid first run,” said Robinson after the first run. “There are definitely areas I can bring up the intensity and risk a bit more, but it was a good start.”
Robinson appeared to do just that for her second run, setting an incredible pace, particularly through the first two sections. As the slope rolled over onto the steeper pitch Robinson held it together well and skied a tactical run to take the leader’s chair, tied with Hector. Gut-Behrami extended her already impressive run one lead to take the win today by -1.09 seconds.
Robinson said, “It’s amazing to get two podiums in a row. My best result here [in Kronplatz] in the past has been eighth so it feels really good to get on the podium and get second place here, ” said Robinson.
“It’s always special and quite fun to tie for podium position, so it’s really cool to share the podium with Sara and Lara skied really well today, she is skiing awesome at moment, she is really on form.”
The next stop on the Giant Slalom World Cup circuit is on the 10th of February in Soldeu, Andorra. This is an event that Robinson particularly looks forward to, as it is the venue where she achieved her career first World Cup podium in 2019.
