Brignone wins giant slalom in Vt.

KILLINGTON, Vt. — Three months ago, Federica Brignone of Italy was on crutches after hurting her left knee in a training crash. It didn’t take her long to get back up to speed.

Brignone won a giant slalom for her ninth career World Cup victory Saturday, with Mikaela Shiffrin taking fourth as the American competed before a home crowd.

On a windy afternoon, Brignone mastered the Killington course in a combined time of 1 minute, 51.33 seconds to beat first-run leader Ragnhild Mowinckel of Norway by 0.49 seconds. Austria’s Stephanie Brunner took third for her first career World Cup podium finish.

Brignone made a slight mistake on the course and thought she no longer had a chance to win. Seeing her name at the top after crossing the finish line caught her by surprise.

“Unexpected for sure,” Brignone said. “Because I had that big mistake. It’s always like, ‘Yes, I did it!’ ”

After the victory, Brignone spent time signing as many autographs as she could for the youngsters in the crowd.

“I remember when I was a kid and going around to some races and wanted to get the autograph from the [winner],” Brignone said. “So I tried to stop to each little guy or little girl that wanted my autograph and I hope I did it for everyone.”

It was another splendid performance for Brignone, who took second at last month’s season-opening giant slalom in Soelden, Austria.