Women’s giant slalom, 1st run

10:04 a.m.: Now it’s a matter of hoping for Aicher that a particularly large number of female drivers will come between her and Shiffrin. And that works well. More and more female drivers end up between half a second and one and a half seconds behind Grenier. Shiffrin continues to be passed on here and is currently 15th. That would just be enough after the second round if Aicher wins.

9:53 a.m.: Emma Aicher can use this. Aicher drives well, only makes small mistakes that don’t cost much time and ends up in third place – only 28 hundredths behind the current leader, Canadian Valerie Grenier.

9.45 a.m.: And Shiffrin actually messes up! She drives extremely carefully, is very slow for her standards, especially in the lower third, and loses a second and a half to the top. It will be passed on widely.

9.30 a.m.: Is the fight for the overall World Cup coming to a head again today? Emma Aicher needs a ski miracle here. She has to win the giant slalom, the leader Mikaela Shiffrin has to either miss the top 15 (then there are no points) or be eliminated. And Aicher has never stood on a podium in a giant slalom competition.

Emma Aicher is evolving from a little skiing gem into a big alpine star

The decision in the battle for the overall World Cup will only be made in the last race of this dramatic ski season. The opportunities for young Germans are before the final giant slalom Although it dropped to a minimum on Wednesday, Aicher still didn’t have to feel like a loser. The 22-year-old said she was “quite happy” with her performance.

Aicher finished third in Shiffrin’s dominant victory in the Hafjell slalom and now goes into the last competition of the winter 85 points behind the US superstar. The calculation is simple: only if she wins and Shiffrin doesn’t score, can she Aicher turn the tide.

Since she has never made it onto the podium in the giant slalom in her career, her prospects are rather poor. But that shouldn’t tarnish the dazzling overall impression that Aicher made this season.

Two silver medals at the Olympics, three World Cup victories: Aicher has distinguished himself this winter little ski jewel has blossomed into a big German alpine star. The fact that she has been able to reduce the gap to Shiffrin in the overall World Cup since the games in Italy in February can hardly be given enough credit to the daughter of a German and a Swede.