Moltzan Upstages Shiffrin as World Cup Opens With a Shock in Sölden

The 2026-27 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup season opened with a stunning upset on the Rettenbach Glacier on Saturday, as 32-year-old American Paula Moltzan earned her first career World Cup victory in the women’s giant slalom.

Rallying from fifth place after the opening run, Moltzan charged down the second leg to edge Albanian racer Lara Colturi by a razor-thin margin of just 0.01 seconds. Germany’s Emma Aicher delivered a roaring second run of her own to round out the podium, finishing 0.52 seconds behind Moltzan.

"It feels like a fairytale right now, pretty unreal," Moltzan said following the race. Her victory is the culmination of a resilient journey: she debuted on the World Cup circuit in 2012, was dropped from the U.S. Ski Team a decade ago, and fought her way back to become the oldest woman to claim her maiden World Cup win. The win also validates a major offseason equipment change, as she recently became the only woman on the World Cup circuit to sign with Van Deer skis, founded by Marcel Hirscher.

"It feels like a fairytale right now," Moltzan said moments after her victory. "Pretty unreal and I think it'll take a minute to settle in.

"I've been working a really long time for my first victory, but I never would have expected it would have happened in the first race on new material. It just proves that we're doing something right."

After a solid first run despite a small blemish in the closeout, Moltzan was in the chase, 0.59 seconds behind teammate Shiffrin.

As conditions worsened for the final skiers in the second run and some were unable to rise to the challenge, Moltzan doubled down on her aggressive strategy.

"In the second run, I knew I had to send it," she said. "A lot of people tend to back off when it gets dark, but for me, I just want to push harder.

"It's an opportunity to be brave and take a chance."

Shiffrin's Second-Run Stumble

The dramatic finale was set up by an unexpected second-run collapse from skiing powerhouse Mikaela Shiffrin. Seeking her record-extending 111th World Cup victory, Shiffrin looked perfectly dialed in during the morning, setting the pace to take a 0.14-second lead over Sweden's Sara Hector.

Shiffrin appeared set for a record-extending 111th World Cup win after leading the first run in 1:07.27, 0.14 seconds ahead of Sweden’s Sara Hector and 0.37 ahead of Switzerland’s Camille Rast. But she was only 27th fastest on the second run, sliding wide in deteriorating visibility and finishing seventh, 0.83 seconds behind Moltzan.

"It was tough on the second run," she admitted. "It was getting darker and darker, and I handled this the best I could with some errors."

While she didn't get to enjoy what would have been World Cup victory No.111, Shiffrin was quick to turn the attention to her teammate's debut triumph.

"It's a day to celebrate Paula," Shiffrin said. "She just kicked it right off with a bang this year. It's history for women's racing and the most meaningful day for her."

Defending Champion Crashes Out

The home crowd also faced early heartbreak. Defending giant slalom Crystal Globe winner and last year’s Sölden champion, Austria's Julia Scheib, was the biggest casualty of the morning. Despite showing blistering speed at the upper splits, Scheib slid out high on the demanding pitch, registering a DNF in the first run.

Second-Run Heroics

With the pre-race favorites stumbling, the door swung open for the rest of the field. Aicher capitalized masterfully, catapulting from ninth place after the first run to secure her third-place finish. Poland’s Maryna Gąsienica-Daniel delivered the most electric performance of the afternoon, clocking a field-best 1:06.16 in the second run after barely qualifying for the afternoon in 29th place.

Paula Moltzan produced the biggest surprise of the Alpine skiing season’s opening day, winning the women’s FIS Ski World Cup giant slalom on Sölden’s Rettenbach Glacier after long-time leader Mikaela Shiffrin faded to seventh. Moltzan’s victory was the first of her 13-season World Cup career, coming at age 32 after 10 previous podiums.

Moltzan, fifth after the opening run, delivered a composed second descent for a combined time of 2:14.82. Lara Colturi, the Italian-born racer competing for Albania, missed gold by just one hundredth of a second, while Germany’s Emma Aicher completed the podium.

It was all-rounder Aicher's first World Cup podium in Giant Slalom, which has traditionally been her weak link — but no longer.

"Surprising, to be honest," the always calm 22-year-old German said after moving up from ninth after the first run. "I have always struggled here (in Sölden), so it's very nice to know that it's possible."

One skier earlier, Colturi, also on new skis after switching to Head for this season, didn't like her podium chances when she stood at the start gate for the second run after finishing the morning session in sixth place.

"I was just standing there and I saw that was a bit windy and snowing and I thought, 'Oh shit'," she said. "But I just said to myself to have fun because the first run I wasn't pushing.

"The second run I just went for it. It was really tough, super low visibility and it was bumpy."

Despite her misgivings and the conditions, Colturi skied sensationally, clocking the third-best time of the field to lead by more than half a second over provisional leader Emma Aicher (GER/Head), who eventually held on for third.

What it means

The opener immediately reshaped expectations for the giant slalom season. Moltzan’s win gives the United States an early psychological edge and validates her switch to Van Deer, while Colturi and Aicher signaled they will be serious podium threats.

For Shiffrin, the day was a reminder of how quickly conditions and a single mistake can overturn a dominant first run. For Scheib, the early crash leaves the defending champion with ground to recover after what had looked like a winning pace.