KRANJSKA GORA, Slovenia (AP) — Camille Rast celebrated briefly with both arms in the air after she crossed the finish line. Then she tapped the black mourning band on her left upper arm twice and made the sign of a heart with her hands.
Shortly after earning her maiden career win in a World Cup giant slalom Saturday, the Swiss skier dedicated the victory to the victims of the fire at a Crans-Montana bar.
“This week, in my hometown, there was a tragical accident and I think about those families. We race for them this weekend,” said Rast, who was born in Vétroz, a village about 40 kilometers from Crans-Montana in the Canton of Valais.
“It was a difficult week. But sport has so many emotions, so I tried to do my best and give some good emotions to those people,” she added.
The fire in the crowded bar in the Swiss ski resort left 40 people dead and more than 100 injured during a New Year’s celebration.
Crans-Montana is set to host World Cup speed races for women on Jan. 30-31 and for men on Feb. 1, the last events before the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
Rast’s win came a week after she finished second in a GS in Austria for what was then her best career result in the discipline. Her two previous World Cup wins both came in slalom, most recently in January 2025, a month before she added the world title in that discipline.
Rast beat second-placed Julia Scheib of Austria by two-tenths, while Paula Moltzan finished 0.47 behind in third for the American’s second podium result of the season.
Teammate Mikaela Shiffrin was just over a second behind in fifth, behind Olympic GS champion Sara Hector of Sweden, who posted the fastest second-run time.
Nina O’Brien in eighth and Elisabeth Bocock in 14th, matching her career best result from a GS in Sweden in March 2023, rounded off a strong showing by the U.S. ski team.
“It’s a really fun team to be a part of,” Moltzan said. “I mean, I never really know who is going to be quite the fastest in training, but I also feel that way on race day.”
Moltzan raced with a bruised back following a nasty crash in last week’s GS. Her career best result in the discipline is a second place, from the season-opening race in October.
“I am actually happy and a bit relieved. Last week, it was extremely difficult for me. I’m still not feeling maybe a 100%. So to be able to pull it off feels really nice. I have some bruising on my spine,” Moltzan said.
“Basically any time I hit a bump doesn’t really feel that good. So lucky that the snow is actually quite smooth here, so it feels less painful.”
Shiffrin holds the women’s record of 22 World Cup wins in the discipline. But with six weeks to go until the Feb. 15 giant slalom at the Olympics, the 2018 gold medalist has not been on a GS podium for 11 World Cup races since January 2024.
Shiffrin suffered from PTSD last season following a horrifying crash at her home race in Killington in November 2024 and has been working her way back up the GS rankings since her return more than two months later.
“Happy and satisfied are different, because I would like to be faster, but I’m taking steps and I feel very good with that,” Shiffrin told Austrian TV after the first leg when asked whether she was 100% happy with her run.
“Last year, I remember watching this race from home and I thought, ‘Oh, I can’t do that.’ So, it’s pretty incredible to be here one year later and to be in the mix with the fastest women right now.”
Scheib, who has won three races this season, extended her lead in the GS standings as her closest challenger, New Zealand’s Alice Robinson, skied out in the first run for a second straight race, this time on a course set by her coach Nils Coberger. Rast is now second, trailing Scheib by 119 points.
Shiffrin remains in the overall lead, 140 points ahead of runner-up Rast.
A slalom on the same hill is scheduled for Sunday. There are no men’s World Cup races this weekend.
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AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing
