Alpine skiing
After victory: Ski ace Rast remembers the victims of Crans-Montana
In Kranjska Gora, a Swiss slalom specialist celebrates her first success in giant slalom. Afterwards she becomes emotional and remembers the New Year’s Eve disaster in her homeland.
The Swiss Camille Rast won the World Cup giant slalom in Kranjska Gora and dedicated her victory to the victims of the Crans-Montana fire disaster and their families. “This week there was a tragic accident in my hometown and I’m thinking of these families,” said the Swiss, recalling the 40 dead and more than 100 injured in the New Year’s Eve accident in the ski resort.
“We’re driving for them this weekend,” added Rast, who grew up not far from Crans-Montana – the 2027 World Cup venue. Shortly after crossing the finish line, she pointed to a mourning ribbon on her upper arm with her glove and also formed a heart with her hands. “That wasn’t easy,” she later added on Swiss television and said: “I hope I was able to give the families a little laugh today.”
Only Dürr in the final – and then clearly distant
Rast prevailed in Slovenia ahead of Julia Scheib from Austria (+0.20 seconds) and the American Paula Moltzan (+0.47). The 2025 slalom world champion celebrated her first career success in giant slalom. In the discipline rankings, Scheib continues to lead ahead of Rast. In the overall standings, US ace Mikaela Shiffrin – fifth this time – remains ahead, also ahead of Rast.
Of the German quartet, only Lena Dürr made it to the final round. The experienced athlete from Germering ended up in 18th place, 3.44 behind Rast, because she made a few mistakes in both rounds and was sometimes too timid.
The slalom follows on Sunday
“It’s a shame, because I did a few turns really well,” said Dürr on ZDF. “But tomorrow we’ll continue in the slalom, so I’m looking forward to it.” On Sunday (9.30 a.m./12.15 p.m./ZDF and Eurosport) Dürr’s special discipline is on the program in Kranjska Gora.
dpa