Olympic Women's Alpine Skiing Results: Giant Slalom Medal Winners After Shiffrin DNF
Sweden's Sara Hector turned in a pair of stellar runs to capture the women's giant slalom gold at the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Hector had times of 57.56 seconds and 58.13 seconds to best Italy's Federica Brignone by 0.28 seconds and earn her first major championship on an international level. Lara Gut-Behrami of Switzerland was 0.72 seconds behind to take bronze.
Women's Alpine Skiing Giant Slalom Results
Gold: Sara Hector (Sweden): 1:55.69
Silver: Federica Brignone (Italy): 1:55.97
Bronze: Lara Gut-Behrami (Switzerland): 1:56.41
American Mikaela Shiffrin, who won gold in this event in 2018, crashed out in her first qualifying run and did not advance to the finals.
"I won't ever get over this. I have never got over any (disappointments in big races)," Shiffrin told reporters. "I still remember how much it hurts four years ago in Kronplatz when I fell before the last Olympics. I remember thinking that was so heartbreaking, and it wasn't even at the Olympics. That heartbreak never goes away, and I think that's what drives me to keep working. Sometimes, they do still happen and, unfortunately, it happened today."
Instead, it was Hector who took center stage to give Sweden its third gold medal of these Winter Games and complete an inspiring comeback.
In 2015, Hector suffered a serious knee injury that threatened her career. She said the injury caused her to completely revamp her skiing style, a change that eventually paid dividends seven years later on the Olympic stage. Hector arrived in Beijing with three World Cup victories and sitting atop the overall standings on tour, saying she owed her recent run of success to a better mindset.
Paula Moltzan was the top finishing American in 12th place. Nina O'Brien, who was in medal contention after a sixth-place finish in her first run, appeared to suffer a serious injury in her second run and was taken off the course on a stretcher.
U.S. Ski & Snowboard described her as "alert and responsive."
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