KRANJSKA GORA, Slovenia (AP) — Swiss skier Camille Rast earned her first career win in a World Cup giant slalom Saturday and then dedicated her victory to the victims of the fire at a Crans-Montana bar.

Rast tapped the black mourning band on her left upper arm twice after she finished her final run to beat second-placed Julia Scheib of Austria by two-tenths.

“This week, in my hometown, there was a tragical accident and I think about those families. We race for them, this weekend,” Rast said in a course-side interview.

Rast was born in Vétroz, a village about 40 kilometers from Crans-Montana in the Canton of Valais.

The fire in the crowded bar in the Swiss ski resort left 40 people dead and more than 100 injured during a New Year’s celebration.

Crans-Montana is set to host World Cup speed races for women on Jan. 30-31 and for men on Feb. 1, the last events before the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.

Paula Moltzan finished 0.47 behind in third for the American’s second podium result of the season. Teammate Mikaela Shiffrin was just over a second behind in fifth.

Nina O’Brien in eighth and Elisabeth Bocock in 14th, matching her career best result from a GS in Sweden in March 2023, rounded off a strong showing by the U.S. ski team.

Scheib extended her lead in the GS standings as her closest challenger, New Zealand’s Alice Robinson, skied out in the first run for a second straight race, this time on a course set by her coach Nils Coberger.

A slalom on the same hill is scheduled for Sunday. There are no men’s World Cup races this weekend.

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AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing

Swiss skier Rast dedicates her 1st World Cup GS win to victims of Crans-Montana bar fire

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