SOELDEN, Austria :Austria's Julia Scheib sparked a home party as she kicked off the new Alpine Skiing World Cup season by winning the women's giant slalom on the Rettenbach Glacier on Saturday.

Scheib was quickest after the first run from American Paula Moltzan and held her nerve to consolidate her lead in the second in front of a noisy Austrian crowd.

It was the 27-year-old Scheib's first World Cup victory and she became the first Austrian woman to win a World Cup giant slalom for nine years.

Moltzan, 31, almost crashed in her second run but recovered to hold on to take second place, 0.58 seconds behind Scheib.

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