Alice Robinson of Team New Zealand (L) takes 2nd place, Lara Gut-behrami of Team Switzerland takes 1st place, Mikaela Shiffrin of Team United States takes 3rd place at the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup women's Giant Slalom. Photo: Alexis Boichard/Agence Zoom
New Zealand's Alice Robinson has bagged the sixth World Cup podium of her alpine skiing career, claiming a giant slalom silver medal in Vermont
The Queenstown 21-year-old broke a drought of sorts with world class display at Killington Ski Resort, clinching her first World Cup medal since March 2021.
Robinson led after the first of two runs, being the only athlete to clock a sub-57 second time.
The second run was a solid outing but she crossed the finish line in second position, just 0.62 seconds behind Swiss winner Lara Gut-Behrami. American great and world No.1 Mikaela Shiffrin was third.
"I am so happy, I was so happy with my first run, it was a bit unexpected," Robinson said.
"Then second run, I wanted to go for it. I definitely had a few mistakes that maybe cost me the win but it was so tight after the first run that anything could have happened so to finish in second place is amazing."
"I was a little bit nervous but I felt calm, I was just pretty excited to be in that position again and be in the position to be really mixing it for the top spots. I was more excited than nervous."
Hard snow conditions and a steep pitch immediately out of the start hut required the athletes to quickly find and hold their rhythm.
Robinson, the 2019 junior world champion, was visibly ecstatic as she crossed the finish line on her first run and realised she had claimed the top spot, knocking Olympic champion Sweden's Sara Hector from the leader's seat.
Having placed ninth in the season-opener in Soelden last month, Robinson is ranked third in the standings heading into the third round in Tremblant, Canada.
Gut-Behrami maintained her perfect start to the season to build a handy lead on the standings while Shiffrin earned a record-extending 140th World Cup podium.
