Semmering slalom to Mikaela Shiffrin, Giada D'Antonio happy all the same

Mikaela Shiffrin climbs up from fourth place and also wins the Semmering slalom in Austria, her fifth personal victory out of as many slaloms held this season. It is victory number 106 in World Cup for her in her career. The best time in the second fraction allowed the Colorado star to set the stopwatch on 1’1’48”82 to leave Swiss Camille Rast behind by just nine hundredths of a second, with Lara Colturi rejoining the podium at 0”57. Fifteenth was Martina Peterlini, the first of the Italians, withdrawn but serene Giada D’Antonio.

Marco Enzo Venturini

For 16-year-old Giada D’Antonio from Naples, Italy, the Semmering slalom was her first contact with the World Cup. “There at the gate there’was an intense moment, with a little bit’ of anxiety – admitted the 2009 class of Sci Club Vesuvio – It was more tension than fear: there’was a start/stop right before my race and I gathered a little bit’. I wanted to get to the bottom, but the slope was very ruined and I tried to make a couple of numbers. I tried to quit but it didn”;

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Despite not finishing the race, however, his balance of the day is positive. “Even the warm-up was not easy, let&#8217s say we adapted to the condition right away in the race. I feel so much support – added Giada D’Antonio – and I am grateful for all that. You never forget your World Cup debut and regardless of the result I am happy to be here. I wanted my family members to be close to me at this moment: this debut makes me think that you can really think big and achieve big goals”.

Martina Peterlini, 15th, is not satisfied: “I have to find my rhythm, having missed the first part of the season. Today is a step forward but I am not happy, because you can see that I lack the confidence to push hard. But it’s a step in the right direction, I’ll take it and bring it home. In these last two races we found difficult conditions, where it was necessary to trust. I am happy with how I handled these situations, because I saw signs of adaptation that are not to be taken for granted”.

The 2025 Women’s World Cup closes with Mikaela Shiffrin largely in command of both rankings. In the overall standings, the 698-point haul gives her a 195-point margin over Rast and 214 over Robinson, with Sofia Goggia fourth at 404. The American leads the slalom ranking with full points (500) followed by Colturi (280) and Rast (262). Lara Della Mea remains at 53 points and occupies 21st place.