Shiffrin in world giant slalom pole

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO: Mikaela Shiffrin nailed the fastest first leg in the women's giant slalom on Thursday to set herself up perfectly for a tilt at a seventh world gold medal.

The 25-year-old Olympic champion clocked 1min 13.22sec down the Olympia delle Tofane course in beautiful sunny conditions.

Shiffrin's US teammate Nina O'Brien was a surprise second, at just two-hundredths of a second, while Switzerland's Lara Gut-Behrami, super-G champion and downhill bronze medallist in Cortina, was in third, at 0.08sec.

Shiffrin, who won bronze in the opening super-G, won her sixth world gold medal when she claimed the alpine combined title.

Only Christel Cranz (12), Marielle Goitschel (7), Anja Paerson (7), Marcel Hirscher (7), and Toni Sailer (7) have won more gold medals at the world championships.

Shiffrin is already the most decorated American skier, male or female, with most world titles (6) and with most world championship medals (9).

A loaded field in the giant slalom, with the second leg scheduled for 1230 GMT in rapidly warming conditions, saw Swiss pair Michelle Gisin and Wendy Holdener stay in the mix.

Also in the running are teenage New Zealander Alice Robinson, Poland's Maryna Gasienica-Daniel, Austrian Katharina Liensberger, Norway's Ragnhild Mowinckel and France's two-time champion (2013, 2017) Tessa Worley (+0.92).

Slovakia's Petra Vlhova, the current overall leader in World Cup standings, lay in 11th spot, at 1.17sec, while home hopes were with Marta Bassino (+1.54), winner of four of this season's five giant slaloms.

Italy's Olympic bronze medallist Federica Brignone skied out, as she also did in the combined.

"It didn't go as planned," the Italian said. "But that's skiing.

"I'm sorry not to get a medal for my country."

The opening leg of the giant featured 99 racers from 44 countries ranging from the USA and traditional central European powerhouses to minnows such as Haiti, Iran, Lebanon, India, Peru, Greece, Latvia and Cyprus.