Paula Moltzan wins first World Cup race by 0.01sec in Sölden giant slalom

Paula Moltzan, 32, claimed her first Alpine skiing World Cup victory on Saturday, edging Albania’s Lara Colturi by 0.01sec in the season-opening giant slalom at Sölden, Austria. The American became the oldest woman to record a first World Cup win.

Moltzan was fifth after the opening run and produced a strong second descent to post a combined time of 2min 14.82sec, denying Colturi who finished in 2min 14.83sec. Germany’s Emma Aicher completed the podium, 0.52sec behind the Minnesota native. The result came in the traditional season opener on the Rettenbach glacier.

Moltzan debuted on the World Cup circuit in 2012 and was dropped from the US ski team a decade ago; she won bronze in the team combined at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics. Before Sunday’s victory she had finished second or third in 10 previous World Cup races across 13 seasons without taking the top step. "It feels like a fairy tale right now," Moltzan said. "Pretty unreal and I think it will take a minute to settle in."

Starting the second run in fifth place, Moltzan recorded a 1min 7.86sec second run to move up four places and set a time none of the remaining contenders could beat. Colturi had been sixth after the opening run and missed victory by 0.01sec. Aicher rose from ninth after the first run to third, while Sweden’s Sara Hector slipped from second to fourth, 0.63sec off the winning pace.

Mikaela Shiffrin, who led after the opening run, struggled as fog rolled in, sliding wide on one turn and dropping to seventh overall, 0.83sec behind the winner. Shiffrin, 31, is seeking a record-extending 111th World Cup victory and earlier this year equalled the women’s record with her sixth overall World Cup title in March. She has described the new campaign as an "exploration season" in which she plans to race less frequently in slalom to concentrate on giant slalom and super-G, and she has not won a giant slalom since December 2023, holding the women’s record with 22 career victories in the discipline.

Moltzan’s win followed a major equipment change in May when she ended an 18-year association with French manufacturer Rossignol to join Van Deer–Red Bull Sports, becoming the first woman to race for the Austrian brand, which had previously supplied only male skiers. "It does really feel real, but we’ve put in a lot of hard work this summer developing this ski and it feels like this is kind of a pinnacle that it’s paying off and we did all the right things," she said. The United States also had two skiers inside the top seven overall, with AJ Hurt 13th, Elisabeth Bocock 14th and Nina O’Brien tied for 16th.

Moltzan has been vocal off the slopes as well; in an interview with The Athletic published on Friday she discussed campaigning to expand fertility treatment coverage for US Olympic athletes and has raced with a floral uterus design on her helmet to promote the cause. The victory on the Rettenbach glacier gives the United States two skiers inside the top seven, and Moltzan said: "I can’t imagine a better start." "I’m really, really, really excited and I can’t wait to see everybody who’s here cheering us on."