Austria's Julia Scheib secured her fourth giant slalom victory of the season at the Kronplatz World Cup on January 20, 2026, extending her lead in the standings. Italy's Federica Brignone marked an emotional comeback from injury with a sixth-place finish, just 1.23 seconds behind the winner. The race highlighted strong performances amid preparations for the upcoming Milano Cortina Olympics.
Race Results and Standings
Julia Scheib of Austria triumphed in the women's Audi FIS World Cup giant slalom at Kronplatz, Italy, on Tuesday, January 20, 2026, with a total time of 2:19.85. This marked her fourth win in seven giant slaloms this season, boosting her lead in the discipline standings to 560 points, 139 ahead of Switzerland's Camille Rast. Scheib, who started third after the first run, improved significantly in the second to finish 0.37 seconds ahead of Rast in second and 0.46 seconds ahead of Sweden's Sara Hector in third.
Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States placed fourth, 0.86 seconds behind Scheib, marking her third fourth-place finish in giant slalom this season. Shiffrin, the overall World Cup leader, has not podiumed in the discipline since November 2024.
Brignone's Emotional Return
The day's standout story was Federica Brignone's return after 292 days sidelined by a severe injury. The 35-year-old Italian, who fractured her left tibia and fibula in a crash at the Italian Championships in April 2025, finished sixth, 1.23 seconds off the pace. Seventh-fastest in the first run and sixth in the second, Brignone fought through emotions and lingering pain.
"It was difficult to come here and put myself out there, honestly, with only a few days of training," Brignone said tearfully. "I arrived here with few certainties and a great desire to race... It’s beautiful to be back." She noted the adrenaline masked her usual pain, adding with a laugh, "We'll see tonight!"
Brignone, the defending overall World Cup champion and a 2022 Olympic silver medallist, chose this race to test her body ahead of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics starting February 6. "All those emotions were so big and doing them at the Olympics would have been too much," she explained. She plans to train in Cortina d'Ampezzo for speed events and skip the next giant slalom.
Shiffrin praised Brignone's resilience: "It's amazing to see her back here... That's spectacular."
Scheib reflected on her victory at a challenging venue: "This place is so magical for me... It was a perfect day."
Rast, with five straight top-five finishes, said, "I lost a bit too much time on the last part but it was a good race."
Hector, the defending Olympic champion, admitted, "I didn't really attack it and really go on the tiger line... Third is for sure also very good."
The event, held on the Erta piste, drew cheers for Brignone on home snow, 90 minutes from Cortina d'Ampezzo.