The 17-year-old defended her lead in the second run to secure her second medal at these Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) and the third medal overall for the Italian team on the slopes of the Jeongseon High1 Alpine Ski Centre.
4 minBy Alessandro Poggi
Alpine Skiing
Giorgia Collomb added another gold medal for Italy in alpine skiing at the Gangwon 2024 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) by winning the women's giant slalom on Tuesday (23 January).
The 17-year-old from La Thuile started the second run with a lead of 0.14 seconds. Despite being on the wrong side of the clock at the first intermediate split, she gained speed in the second part, utimately posting an aggregate time of 1:41.10. This was 11 hundredths of a second faster than silver medallist, Shaienne Zehnder of Switzerland.
This marks the second medal won by Collomb at these Games, following the silver taken in the alpine combined on Monday. It's also the second gold for the Italian team in the alpine event, and their sixth title of these Youth Olympics overall so far.
Astrid Hedin of Sweden climbed five positions to finish in third, just over a second off the pace.
Skiers had to brave temperatures as low as -20°C and navigate a tricky and icy terrain, while also the course settings featured many sharp turns.
The Apollo 6 track proved to be challenging for many racers: out of 79 participants, 26 didn't finish the first run (including individual combined gold medallist Maja Waroschitz) while 10 didn't complete the second run.
- Gangwon 2024: Medal table
- Gangwon 2024: Full schedule and results
- Gangwon 2024: Full list of medallists in alpine skiing
Giorgia Collomb: 'A hard-fought gold'
"It was a hard-fought gold from start to finish, both in the first and second runs," said Collomb after the race.
"The first run was quite challenging because I didn't expect this type of snow; it was slightly different from the Super G. However, I attacked it and managed to give my best, especially in the second part, securing a good first run. Starting the second run in the lead is always tough, as you're pumped up, but at the same time, doubts may arise, and it would be better if they didn't.
"In both the first and second runs, I didn't start very well; I couldn't find the rhythm in the first part of the course. The second part, however, was where it flowed a bit more, and I managed to regain the feeling. In my head, I thought, 'No, this is not good, you have to do more.' I said the same thing at every gate and decided to push to the maximum because I had nothing to lose," the gold medallist said.
After crossing the finish line, the Italian raised her arms to the sky, screaming with joy:
"Finally, I succeeded in winning the gold medal, and I am very happy. It's never easy to win a race. When you reach the finish line and see the green light, joy wells up—a joy from successful training, the pieces slowly coming together, which are, of course, a significant step."
- Meet Giorgia Collomb: In the footsteps of Federica Brignone
Gangwon 2024 - Alpine skiing: Women's Giant slalom results
Tuesday, 23 January - Top 10
- Giorgia Collomb (ITA) 1:41.10
- Shaienne Zehnder (SUI) +0.11
- Astrid Edin (SWE) +1.03
- Justine Herzog (SUI) +1.33
- Alexandra Skorokhodova (KAZ) +1.41
- Rita Granruaz (ITA) +1.53
- Amelie Bjorksten (FIN) +1.69
- Romy Ertl (GER) +1.75
- Fabienne Wenger (SUI) +2.56
- Molly Butler (GBR) +2.92
Full results: here
How to watch alpine skiing at Gangwon 2024 Youth Olympic Games
Action from the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympics is available live, worldwide, and without subscription on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and the official Olympics app.
Full replays and highlights of all six competition days for alpine skiing will be available, and you can catch highlights, reaction interview clips, news articles, and full results from the Republic of Korea across the website and official Olympics social media accounts.
