Santa Caterina, Italy – Jackson, Wyo.’s Resi Stiegler continued her consistent comeback after knee injury, taking 14th on Tuesday in the Santa Caterina slalom—her fourth top-15 result this season.
But top-15 isn’t enough for Stiegler, who is looking for the podium. “I’m pretty excited to get another top 15. I do want a lot more and it’s hard to watch other girls that you know you can beat being in the top five,” said Stiegler, who finished 2.86 seconds off the winning pace. “I wasn’t that far behind when I came down. So obviously that’s what I need to start doing—pushing the envelope a little bit and really putting it on the line a little bit more. I need to get in there; I want to get in there.”
Nina Loeseth of Norway, who has been posting career-best finishes all season, worked off that momentum and grabbed her first-ever World Cup win in the race moved from Zagreb, Croatia due to a lack of snow there. She finished ahead of Czech Republic’s Sarka Strachova and Slovakia’s Veronika Velez Zuzulova, who finished second and third, respectively.
“It feels great,” said Loeseth. “Probably the best feeling I’ve ever had on the hill. Yeah, it’s really something special especially when you’re on the podium there and you hear your national anthem. I was tearing up quite a bit. It’s very emotional and it’s a good day.”
Many favorites struggled on Tuesday, especially in the first run as Sweden’s Frida Hansdotter was only 10th and Slovakia’s Petra Vlhova failed to finish. Hansdotter made up some of time in the second run and finally came in 5th position. She leads the discipline standings with 365 points, 94 points ahead of Strachova.
The women’s World Cup season continues on Thursday with the first downhill training run in Zauchensee, Austria. The tech teams head to Flachau, Austria for a slalom next Tuesday.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
FIS Alpine Ski World Cup
Santa Caterina, Italy – Jan. 5, 2016
Women’s Slalom
| Rank | Name | Nation | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total | Diff. |
| 1 | LOESETH Nina | NOR | 58.70 | 58.95 | 1:57.65 | |
| 2 | STRACHOVA Sarka | CZE | 59.03 | 59.74 | 1:58.77 | +1.12 |
| 3 | VELEZ ZUZULOVA Veronika | SVK | 59.83 | 59.19 | 1:59.02 | +1.37 |
| 4 | KIRCHGASSER Michaela | AUT | 59.39 | 59.92 | 1:59.31 | +1.66 |
| 5 | HANSDOTTER Frida | SWE | 59.67 | 1:00.10 | 1:59.77 | +2.12 |
| 6 | HOLDENER Wendy | SUI | 59.82 | 59.99 | 1:59.81 | +2.16 |
| 7 | GAGNON Marie-Michele | CAN | 59.80 | 1:00.02 | 1:59.82 | +2.17 |
| 8 | PIETILAE-HOLMNER Maria | SWE | 59.63 | 1:00.21 | 1:59.84 | +2.19 |
| 9 | BARTHET Anne-Sophie | FRA | 59.54 | 1:00.42 | 1:59.96 | +2.31 |
| 10 | NOENS Nastasia | FRA | 59.32 | 1:00.65 | 1:59.97 | +2.32 |