Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States won the gold medal in the women’s giant slalom at the world championships on Thursday, just a day after her surprise split with longtime coach Mike Day. Despite a mistake near the end of the race, Shiffrin held on to her first-run lead and, upon seeing her time, covered her mouth with her hands and fell to the snow in celebration. Federica Brignone of Italy and Ragnhild Mowinckel of Norway came over to congratulate her after finishing 0.12 and 0.22 seconds behind, respectively, for silver and bronze. Shiffrin expressed her joy and relief, saying she was “just ski[ing] faster” on the bottom, and that she felt “really emotional” about her victory.
This win brings Shiffrin’s tally to seven world titles and 13 medals overall from 16 career world championship races, putting her in second place behind German skier Christl Cranz on the all-time list for the most individual medals won by a woman at the worlds. Shiffrin is also only the fourth female skier to win world titles in four different disciplines.
French skier Tessa Worley, who was second after the opening run, slid on her inside ski and fell in her second run. American teammate Paula Moltzan spun around and missed a gate halfway through her first run and did not finish. Nina O’Brien posted the second-fastest time in the final run and improved from 21st to 11th position. The men’s giant slalom is scheduled for Friday.