SEMMERING, Austria — Anna Fenninger of Austria had two near-perfect runs to win a World Cup giant slalom on Friday, while second-place Tina Maze of Slovenia extended her lead in the overall standings.
In difficult conditions because of snowfall, Fenninger posted the fastest time in both runs on the Panorama course and finished in a combined time of 2 minutes, 13.09 seconds to beat Maze by 1.10. Tessa Worley of France, who was second after the opening run, was third.
American teenager Mikaela Shiffrin, who won her first World Cup race last week, was eighth for the best GS result in her career. She’s now 10th in the overall standings.
Shiffrin had several mistakes in her final run but used a blistering second to finish 2.68 seconds off Fenninger’s winning time.
“I had some energy that run," said Shiffrin, who struggled with a cold. “My energy level has been OK, or maybe I am just telling myself that’s OK — mind over matter ... Hopefully tonight I get a good night of sleep and come out tomorrow (for the slalom) and have some fun."
Shiffrin leads the slalom standings, the first time since 1982 that the U.S. women’s team has three racers in the top 10.
Defending overall champion Lindsey Vonn of the United States skipped the race. Vonn, who is fifth in the overall standings, is taking a break from the circuit to fully recover from an intestinal illness.
Fenninger earned her second World Cup victory after claiming a GS on home soil — in Lienz — a year ago to the day.
“I was very difficult to free my mind before the start," said Fenninger, who had never led a World Cup race after the first run before. “I tried to tell myself that it’s just an ordinary race. I kept repeating that, and it worked."
