Alice Robinson stormed to the front of the pack with a determined and blisteringly fast second run to win her third World Cup race of her young career. Sitting fourth after the first run, Robinson posted the fastest second run time to push first run leader, Mikaela Shiffrin into second and Meta Hrovat into third. Federica Brignone and Michelle Gisin rounded out the top five.
Robinson was a racer on a mission as she tore out the second run start gate. For most of the season she has admitted that things have not been 100% right and that she only recently felt that her technique was back on point. The comment 'if only the season could go on a few more weeks,' was often felt to be attributed to her as she improved and improved.
With the Giant Slalom Globe all sorted and the Overall Globe all sorted as well, this was a race just for pure interest. Could Marta Bassino make this a fifth win in the season or could Meta Hrovat win her first race, or would Mikaela Shiffrin make this win number 70 in her incredible career? So many different end variations were considered.
In the end it was deservedly won by Robinson, who at just 19, has so much promise and potential. Fourth at the World Championships and then second in the race at Jasna, victory in this race was something many felt was on the horizon. With her coach, Chris Knight, having guided Lindsey Vonn to many of her career yardsticks (as well as the early career of Chemmy Alcott), Robinson has the support crew in place for this to be the continuation of a long and successful career.
Robinson made her World Cup debut at the World Cup Finals after winning the World Junior Champs in 2019. later that year she won the opening GS of the World Cup season, before returning home to graduate from school. She then returned to the World Cup and won again in Kranjska Gora. She is the first racer to have won three World Cup races before her 20th birthday!
“I wasn’t happy at all with my first run,” said Robinson. “So I just thought I have to go full gas any give it all my energy in the second run, since it was the last of the season I gave every bit of energy and power that I had.”
Having won the GS and Overall Globe last season, Federica Brignone posted the second fastest time on the second run to lift herself up to fourth from seventh.
For many of the racers this was the end of a long tiring season and fortunately the second run was slightly straighter and quicker than the first, unlike in the men's race the previous day.
The race could have had a different complexion to it as Tessa Worley looked to be taking a huge lead into the finish but slid on her inside but managed to get up and take the lead. Worley would eventually finish in ninth but how she managed to pull herself up and not lose more time was testament to her fitness and strength.
First run leader Mikaela Shiffrin could not quite match the desire and determination of Robinson that was transferred into raw speed and settled for second.
Sunday was Shiffrin’s 10th podium in a row, including World Championships. She also scored 10 podiums out of the 16 World Cups she entered throughout the season and won three of the races. At World Champs, she captured four medals. And she was second in both the slalom and giant slalom standings. Her results were particularly impressive, having gone 300 days between races after her father’s death in early 2020, which was difficult emotionally, and battling a COVID-ridden season, which made finding adequate training hard. “It’s been quite wild—a little bit beyond my hopes or dreams even,” she said. “There were a lot of moments I didn’t think we would do the season at all with the pandemic. I was also uncertain about myself personally. It’s quite incredible to be here now and have a good amount of success. It’s also a really big step to get back to this place to be fighting for the podiums in almost every race.”
After 31 races, the women are due a good break before the racing picks up again, hopefully with fans, in October.
Full results
All pictures Zoom Agence