Swiss skier Camille Rast completes rough road to win slalom at world championships

SAALBACH-HINTERGLEMM, Austria (AP) — The daughter of an off-road motorbike racer, Camille Rast knows what it takes to go over rough roads.

The Swiss skier has had to navigate her way past several obstacles on her career path: Mononucleosis, a torn ACL and meniscus, self-doubt.

Finally, her perseverance is paying off.

The 25-year-old Rast crowned her breakout season on Saturday by beating teammate Wendy Holdener for a Swiss 1-2 in the women’s slalom at the Alpine skiing world championships.

Rast became the first Swiss winner of the slalom since the great Vreni Schneider in 1991 at the same Austrian resort.

“Mentally I was ready for this day. I just wanted to enjoy the whole day. It’s mega cool to be on the podium with Wendy,” said the new champion, whose father, Philippe Rast, had successes in international enduro races.

Rast held on to her big first-run lead to beat Holdener by 0.46 seconds.

Katharina Liensberger, the 2021 world champion from Austria, was 1.32 seconds behind in third.

American teammates Paula Moltzan and Mikaela Shiffrin missed a medal by fractions in fourth and fifth, respectively.

Rast was competing at her fifth worlds and won her first medal, after she took gold in slalom at the 2017 junior world championships. She leads the slalom season standings after getting the first two World Cup wins of her career.

“It’s a super season, especially in slalom,” Rast said. “But I did not put myself under the pressure that I had to win a medal here. This attitude was just right to get one.”

The right attitude was what Rast needed several times in recent years to overcame setbacks.

Shortly after scoring her first World Cup points and winning the junior world title, she sat out most of the 2017-18 season with mononucleosis.

Having found her way back, she beat Holdener to win the Swiss giant slalom title in 2019, but the following day she severely damaged her right knee in a slalom crash.

After making gradual progress over the past years, it all has all been coming together for Rast this season.

“Today, all pieces fit together,” Swiss team tech coach Christian Brill said. “That’s her class. We always knew she can ski well. Now she has proven it again at the world championships. She is very focused, knows what she wants, and is a meticulous worker.”

Holdener posted the fastest second-run time to improve from fourth position and earn her third silver medal at the worlds, after finishing runner-up in the team combined with Lara Gut-Behrami and in the mixed-team parallel event last week.

“I am the record holder for second places,” quipped Holdener, who missed most of last season as she recovered from a broken left ankle and dealt with the loss of her brother, Kevin, who died in February.

“Today it’s OK to win silver, I showed what I can do. I am grateful to be here in Saalbach and to be so successful,” she said. “The team and my family helped me to gain energy again.”

It was Holdener’s ninth career medal from the worlds, matching the Swiss record held by Gut-Behrami and Pirmin Zurbriggen.

Shiffrin missed out on what would have been her record-setting 16th career medal from the worlds. She shares the best mark with German skier Christl Cranz, who won 15 medals in the 1930s.

Shiffrin, who recently returned from a two-month injury layoff, dropped from third after the opening run but was still satisfied with “some of the best skiing I’ve done lately.”

Shiffrin won a medal in slalom — including four gold — at all six previous world championships she competed in since 2013.

Shiffrin won gold with American teammate Breezy Johnson in the team combined on Tuesday but sat out the giant slalom two days later. She felt not ready yet to race GS after recovering from an abdominal injury in a GS crash in Killington, Vermont in November.

Moltzan won bronze in giant slalom on Thursday and posted the second-fastest time in the final run on Saturday to finish three-hundredths ahead of Shiffrin.

Moltzan's final run was even 0.21 seconds faster than Rast's, but the American was full of praise for the winner.

“She’s impressive,” Moltzan said. “It’s just so next level. She can point her skis so straight down the hill and make such a clean turn. It’s just inspiring. And she’s a really kind person and that’s important as well.”

The world championships end with the men's slalom on Sunday.

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

Switzerland's Camille Rast, center, winner of a gold medal in a women's slalom, celebrates on the podium with silver medalist Switzerland's Wendy Holdener, left, and bronze medalist Austria's Katharina Liensberger, at the Alpine Ski World Championships, in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Switzerland's Camille Rast, center, winner of a gold medal in a women's slalom, celebrates on the podium with silver medalist Switzerland's Wendy Holdener, left, and bronze medalist Austria's Katharina Liensberger, at the Alpine Ski World Championships, in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

Switzerland's Camille Rast, right, winner of a gold medal in a women's slalom, looks up from the podium next to silver medalist Switzerland's Wendy Holdener, left, at the Alpine Ski World Championships, in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

Switzerland's Camille Rast, right, winner of a gold medal in a women's slalom, celebrates on the podium with silver medalist Switzerland's Wendy Holdener, at the Alpine Ski World Championships, in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Switzerland's Camille Rast celebrates winning the gold medal in a women's slalom, at the Alpine Ski World Championships, in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Switzerland's Wendy Holdener, left, hugs Switzerland's Camille Rast after winning the silver (Holdener) and gold medal a women's slalom, at the Alpine Ski World Championships, in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

Switzerland's Camille Rast celebrates winning a women's slalom, at the Alpine Ski World Championships, in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

United States' Mikaela Shiffrin competes in a women's slalom, at the Alpine Ski World Championships, in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

United States' Paula Moltzan competes in a women's slalom, at the Alpine Ski World Championships, in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Austria's Katharina Liensberger competes in a women's slalom, at the Alpine Ski World Championships, in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

Switzerland's Camille Rast competes in a women's slalom, at the Alpine Ski World Championships, in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

United States' Mikaela Shiffrin warms up ahead of a women's slalom, at the Alpine Ski World Championships, in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)

United States' Mikaela Shiffrin concentrates ahead of a women's slalom, at the Alpine Ski World Championships, in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)

United States' Mikaela Shiffrin competes in a women's slalom, at the Alpine Ski World Championships, in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

LONDON (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has told global leaders to “keep the pressure” on Russian President Vladimir Putin to back a ceasefire in Ukraine.

In his opening remarks Saturday to a virtual gathering of what he has termed the “coalition of the willing,” Starmer said Putin will “sooner or later” have to “come to the table.”

Unlike the first summit on March 2, the meeting of what Starmer has termed the “coalition of the willing” is being conducted virtually. The call is expected to delve into how countries can help Ukraine militarily and financially as well as gauging support for any future possible peacekeeping mission in the event Putin backs a cessation of hostilities.

“My feeling is that sooner or later he's going to have to come to the table and engage in serious discussion, but — this is a big but for us this morning in our meeting — we can’t sit back and simply wait for that to happen," Starmer told leaders while sitting in front of a screen in an office in 10, Downing Street.

“I think that means strengthening Ukraine so they can defend themselves, and strengthening, obviously, in terms of military capability, in terms of funding, in terms of the provision of further support from all of us to Ukraine.”

Around 25 countries are expected to be involved in the call, including European partners, and Ukraine. Leaders from Australia, Canada and New Zealand, as well as officials from NATO and the European Union’s executive, are also set to take part. The United States is not represented at the meeting.

Saturday’s meeting takes place in the wake of a U.S. proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has backed.

Like the last meeting of the “coalition of the willing,” there is no representative from the United States, which has shifted its approach on the war since the return of President Donald Trump to the White House. The change of approach relative to that taken by Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, became particularly notable after Trump clashed with Zelenskyy on Feb. 28 in the Oval Office.

Putin has indicated that he supports a truce in principle but has set out a host of details that need to be clarified before agreeing to a ceasefire. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has voiced “cautious optimism” about the possibility of Putin, who met with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, on Thursday, backing a ceasefire.

Starmer appears to be less optimistic, and is telling leaders that concrete commitments are required now as Putin plays “pointless games” with Trump’s peace plan.

Starmer has taken the lead, along with French President Emmanuel Macron, in assembling the “coalition of the willing,” in part to persuade Trump to maintain support for Kyiv. One outcome has already been a growing acceptance from European countries in particular that they need to do more to ensure their own security, including by increasing their defense spending.

Images from the Elysee showed Macron and his aides listening to Starmer's opening statement in a room of the French presidential palace.

Ukraine, under severe military pressure on parts of the front line three years after Russia’s full-scale invasion, has already endorsed the truce proposal. Russia’s army has gained battlefield momentum, and analysts say Putin likely will be reluctant to rush into a ceasefire while he feels he has an advantage.

French President Emmanuel Macron, second left, , shakes hands with Colonel-General Ruslan Khomchak, First Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, as French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu, right, and Chief of Staff of the French Armed Forces Thierry Burkhard, left, look on during a meeting on the conflict in Ukraine at the Musee de la Marine as part of the Paris Defense and Strategy Forum in Paris, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (Sarah Meyssonnier/Pool via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro during their talks via videoconference at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 14, 2025. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during the briefing in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

In this photo taken from video distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Friday, March 14, 2025, Russian soldiers ride atop of self-propelled gun at an area in the Kursk region of Russia after it was taken over by Russian troops. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

In this photo taken from video distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Friday, March 14, 2025, a Russian soldier rises a red flag atop of a house at an area in the Kursk region of Russia after it was taken over by Russian troops. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer gestures during a Q&A session after delivering a speech on plans to reform the civil service, during a visit to Reckitt Benckiser Health Care UK Ltd in Kingston upon Hull, England, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (Oli Scarff/Pool Photo via AP)

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer departs 10 Downing Street to attend Prime Minister's Questions at the Houses of Parliament in London, England, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)