American Paula Moltzan became the oldest woman to claim her first Alpine skiing World Cup victory on Saturday, edging Albania’s Lara Colturi by just one-hundredth of a second in a thrilling season-opening giant slalom at Sölden, Austria.

Moltzan, who was fifth after the opening run, produced a superb second descent to finish with a combined time of 2min 14.82sec, narrowly denying Colturi, who finished in 2min 14.83sec. Germany’s Emma Aicher completed the podium, 0.52sec behind the Minnesota native.

“It feels like a fairy tale right now,” Moltzan said afterward. “Pretty unreal and I think it will take a minute to settle in.”

The victory marked a long-sought breakthrough for Moltzan, who made her World Cup debut in 2012 and was dropped from the US ski team a decade ago. The 32-year-old, who won bronze in the team combined event at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics, had finished second or third in 10 previous World Cup races without ever reaching the top step of the podium.

Starting the second run in fifth place, the American clocked 1min 7.86sec to move four places up the standings and set a target that none of the remaining contenders could beat.

Colturi, who had been sixth after the opening run, came agonizingly close to denying Moltzan her moment, finishing just 0.01sec adrift.

Aicher also made a significant move, climbing from ninth after the first run to third, while Sweden’s Sara Hector slipped from second to fourth, 0.63sec off the winning pace.

Moltzan’s American teammate Mikaela Shiffrin, who had led after the opening run, endured a disappointing second descent and fell to seventh overall, 0.83sec behind the winner.

For Moltzan, the result represented an immediate reward for a bold late-career equipment change. In May, she ended an 18-year association with French manufacturer Rossignol to join Van Deer–Red Bull Sports, becoming the first woman to race for the Austrian brand, which had previously supplied only male skiers.

“It does really feel real, but we’ve put in a lot of hard work this summer developing this ski and it feels like this is kind of a pinnacle that it’s paying off and we did all the right things,” she said.

The result also gave the United States two skiers inside the top seven, with AJ Hurt finishing 13th, Elisabeth Bocock 14th and Nina O’Brien tied for 16th.

Moltzan has also been making headlines away from the slopes. In an interview with the Athletic published on Friday, she discussed her campaign to expand fertility treatment coverage for US Olympic athletes, a cause she has promoted by racing with a floral uterus design on her helmet.

The Minnesotan has argued that female athletes should not have to choose between pursuing their sporting ambitions and starting families, and is pushing for greater fertility benefits through the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee.

For now, Moltzan has every reason to savor the biggest victory of her career, achieved on the Rettenbach glacier in the traditional opening race of the World Cup season. “I can’t imagine a better start,” she said. “I’m really, really, really excited and I can’t wait to see everybody who’s here cheering us on.”