Shiffrin golden in World Cup giant slalom for 2nd straight day, Canada's Grenier 5th

Mikaela Shiffrin won a gripping duel with Swiss skier Lara Gut-Behrami in a women's World Cup giant slalom Wednesday to earn her second win in two days, and career victory No. 79.

Shiffrin trailed leader Gut-Behrami by 0.22 seconds after the opening leg but the pair swapped places after a thrilling final run in which both made mistakes, with the American racer ultimately beating her rival by 0.10.

"It was hard, it was so dark, some really big bumps, I tried to push," Shiffrin said.

Marta Bassino, who leads the GS standings, was 0.47 behind in third, followed by Italian teammate Federica Brignone in fourth.

Valerie Grenier, the lone Canadian in the field, placed fifth at 2:04.36. One day earlier, the St. Isidore, Ont., native was disqualified after leaving the start house early while in podium contention after placing fourth in her opening run.

Shiffrin also won a GS on the same course Tuesday and is now three World Cup wins short of the women's record held by Lindsey Vonn. She could even get one closer before the end of 2022 as the three-day series at Semmering will be concluded with a night slalom Thursday.

Shiffrin won all three events the previous time the resort near the capital Vienna hosted races on three consecutive days, in December 2016.

Wednesday's win was Shiffrin's 16th in GS, putting her in joint second place on the all-time winners list alongside Annemarie Moser-Pröll and Tessa Worley. Only Vreni Schneider won more giant slaloms with 20.

The win also stretched Shiffrin's lead in the overall standings to 305 points over Sofia Goggia. The Italian speed specialist is not competing in Semmering.

Shiffrin and Gut-Behrami set up their duel by building a big lead over the rest of the field in the opening run, when