Julia Scheib Claims Her Third Giant Slalom Victory Of The Season In Semmering
On a day defined by punishing ice and a relentless course, Austria’s Julia Scheib thrilled the home crowd in Semmering on Saturday, December 27, 2025, by capturing her third World Cup Giant Slalom victory of the season. The 27‑year‑old produced a composed, attacking second run on the treacherous Zauberberg slope to post a combined time of 1:56.46, sending the Semmering faithful into a frenzy.
The Austrian late bloomer won her third race of the season — and of her career — to take over from Robinson (DNF) as the World Cup Giant Slalom leader, moving up a spot after the first run to send her home crowd into a frenzy.
Scheib began the second run trailing first‑run leader Sara Hector by just 0.02 seconds, then attacked a bumpy middle section that had already claimed several top contenders. With aggressive, technically precise skiing through the rough patches, Scheib made up the tiny deficit and carried speed into the finish, where the green light confirmed a home victory.
Switzerland’s Camille Rast delivered a career‑best performance to take second, 0.14 seconds behind Scheib, while Olympic champion Sara Hector held on for third, 0.40 seconds adrift.
The course proved unforgiving. New Zealand star Robinson, who had split the first four GS races of the season with Scheib, started brilliantly in the first run but was pitched into the air before a right-footed turn in the mid-section and went down and out on her inside ski.
On the same turn, three skiers later, Mikaela Shiffrin (USA/Atomic) lost her outside ski and drifted wide, and although she managed to recover, it cost her time and put her into eighth place, over a second behind Hector.
Shiffrin, the 2018 Olympic Giant Slalom champion, had a solid second run to finish sixth, but she missed the podium in GS for the 10th straight time of asking since January 2024 as she continues to come to terms with the discipline in which she suffered a serious puncture injury last November.
The 105-time World Cup winner will hope for better fortune in Sunday's Slalom, and the form line suggests she will be hard to stop: Shiffrin has won all four Slalom races this season, and three of her last four Slaloms in Semmering.
"It’s crazy, I never thought it would be enough for the win," a breathless Scheib said in the finish area. "It was so tough, so bumpy, and I was so relieved when I saw the green light. I heard the crowd in the final section and I thought, 'I just have to let the skis go.' To win at home in Semmering is a dream come true."
Another skier who enjoyed Semmering, albeit surprisingly, was Rast, who admitted pre-race that it was not one of her favorite courses before skiing two brilliant runs from bib No.14 to finish as the runner-up.
"A bit more now," said Rast, responding to whether she likes Semmering after all, having secured Switzerland's 500th World Cup Giant Slalom podium in women's and men's Alpine skiing. "It's nice to finish the year in GS on the podium," she said, after finishing fifth, fourth and fourth in the last three Giant Slaloms. "I was really close in Tremblant (two fourths) and I tried to give my best today, and it worked."
Skiing fifth to last in the second run, Rast built a lead of over a second at the final intermediate split, but was thrown into the air in the closeout, lowering her leading margin and opening the door for those yet to ski.
"I knew that I will do some mistakes, that feeling was not so good, and in the end I wanted to see the green light, and it was like this," Rast said.
While Scheib took advantage of Rast's mistake, Hector could not.
The reigning Olympic champion only managed the 12th best time in a second run that she described as "really bumpy" as the final skier on the mountain.
"I could have been a little bit better on my outside ski," Hector admitted, though she still retains a positive outlook heading into the defense of her Olympic title in February. "I think I'm on a pretty good roll," she said. "I still have work left, but I'm excited to do this."
The victory at Semmering not only delivered a memorable home triumph but also reinforced Scheib’s status as the rider to beat in Giant Slalom as the circuit moves toward the Olympic year. With this win Scheib extends her lead in the GS standings to 88 points over Robinson. Her season—already featuring victories in Sölden and Mont‑Tremblant—positions her as a leading contender for Olympic gold at Milan‑Cortina 2026. The women’s World Cup remains in Semmering for a night slalom on Sunday, where several athletes, including Shiffrin, will look to regain momentum on a hill that has produced dramatic moments all weekend.
