Robinson carving a niche

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Robinson entered the final giant slalom of last season leading the discipline standings and set to clinch the first Crystal Globe of her career.

But she struggled with a gate in her first run at the World Cup finals in Sun Valley, Idaho, last March, veered off course and handed the title to Brignone.

Robinson said that failure "definitely kept the fire burning for this offseason to try and work harder to be more prepared and to mentally know how to deal with those higher intensity, higher pressure moments."

Olympics and COVID struggles

Robinson was New Zealand's youngest-ever Winter Olympian as a 16-year-old at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. Then she struggled with expectations at the 2022 Beijing Games after being locked out of her home country for two years due to New Zealand's strict border controls during the coronavirus pandemic.

This time she has a new plan.

"With it being in Cortina, which is a familiar World Cup venue for us, I kind of just want to go into it treating it just like another World Cup race," Robinson said.

During her first career race in Cortina, Robinson narrowly missed out on a medal at the 2021 world championships when she finished fourth in the giant slalom.

"Cortina was one of the first places that I ever skied in Europe because we had friends that were living there and so I've always loved Cortina," Robinson said. "Outside of New Zealand, I think it's definitely one of most beautiful places in the world."

Agencies via Xinhua