Skier Nino Tsiklauri claims first World Ski Championships giant slalom qualification

Georgian skier Nino Tsiklauri completed her first FIS World Ski Championships qualification for giant slalom after finishing  in a contest involving leading athletes from around the world on Thursday.

In the winter resort of Are in Sweden’s west, Tsiklauri entered the ladies’ giant slalom competition of the International Ski Federation.

While she has entered giant slalom events for FIS-sanctioned contests since 2011, the goal of finishing among competitors whose results qualified for final result sheet had eluded the 25-year-old until now.

Tsiklauri ended the streak in the Swedish resort by finishing 52nd among 54 qualified skiers, and from 86 athletes who had entered the run in total.

Her time of 2m16.80s was 14.83s adrift of the eventual winner Petra Vlhova, a Winter Youth Olympics gold medallist.

Germany’s Olympic gold medallist Viktoria Rebensburg finished second while the United States’ Olympic giant slalom champion Mikaela Shiffrin was third.

The Georgian skier, who will next enter a slalom contest in Are on Saturday, also added 122.80 ranking points to her tally by qualifying through the giant slalom.

The World Ski Championships in Are will conclude on Saturday.