Federica Brignone shows competitive skiing on return from injury with Olympics approaching

SAN VIGILIO DI MAREBBE, Italy (AP) — Defending overall World Cup champion Federica Brignone is back skiing after a nine-month injury layoff and already competitive with the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics little more than two weeks away.

Mikaela Shiffrin, meanwhile, keeps regaining ground in giant slalom.

Austria's Julia Scheib, though, is the racer to beat in GS.

Scheib claimed her fourth giant slalom victory of the season Tuesday, moving up from third after the opening run to finish 0.37 seconds ahead of Camille Rast and 0.46 ahead of defending Olympic champion Sara Hector, who led after the first run at the Kronplatz resort.

Shiffrin placed fourth, 0.86 behind, and Brignone was sixth, 1.23 back.

“It was really tough with all of the emotions I had today, so I was really happy to see the green light,” Brignone said. “It’s been nine difficult, tough months, so I’m proud of myself. It was all new again for me in terms of emotions. I’m really happy that I raced today. If I had waited for the Olympics to return it might have all been too much.”

The 27-year-old Scheib had never won a World Cup race before this season but now she leads the discipline standings with a comfortable margin of 139 points ahead of Rast.

Shiffrin, the American winner of a record 107 World Cup races, has not finished on the podium in giant slalom in exactly two years — since before her crash in Killington, Vermont, in Nov. 2024.

Shiffrin won the Kronplatz race three times, including in 2023 when with victory No. 83 she broke the all-time women’s wins record previously held by Lindsey Vonn.

It was Brignone's first race since breaking multiple bones in her left leg in April — which resulted in two surgeries — 42 stitches to put her leg back together — and months of rehab.

“When I stuck my poles out I said to myself, ‘I’m not sure if I’m ready.’ My hand was shaking,” Brignone said after the opening run. “I started off quite rigid, which makes it tough in these conditions. But then I remembered to breathe after the first checkpoint and then it went a bit better.”

Brignone won't compete in the next set of technical races this weekend in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic. Instead, she'll head to nearby Cortina d'Ampezzo, where the women will race during the Olympics, for some speed training.

“I want to see if I’m able to participate in the races. I need to gain a bit more confidence so I can really charge," Brignone said. "Right now, I make two or three good turns and then I hold back on the next one. But I’m leaving San Vigilio happy and confident.”

Sofia Goggia, another Italian, lost control midway down and didn’t finish her first run.

Also for the U.S. team, Paula Moltzan was eighth and 20-year-old Elisabeth Bocock was a career-best 12th.

Nina O’Brien had fast splits in her second run before losing control on the steep slope midway down. The American spun around and slid down before coming to a stop near the safety netting. She got right back up and appeared to avoid serious injury.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Austria's Julia Scheib celebrates winning an alpine ski women's World Cup giant slalom, in Kronplatz, Italy, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

United States' Mikaela Shiffrin checks her time at the finish area of a women's World Cup giant slalom, in Kronplatz, Italy, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

Austria's Julia Scheib speeds down the course during a women's World Cup giant slalom, in Kronplatz, Italy, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

United States' Mikaela Shiffrin speeds down the course during a women's World Cup giant slalom, in Kronplatz, Italy, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)

Italy's Federica Brignone celebrates at the finish area of a women's World Cup giant slalom, in Kronplatz, Italy, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

United States' Mikaela Shiffrin prepares to start a women's World Cup giant slalom, in Kronplatz, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)

United States' Mikaela Shiffrin speeds down the course during a women's World Cup giant slalom, in Kronplatz, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

Italy's Federica Brignone prepares to start a women's World Cup giant slalom, in Kronplatz, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)

Sweden's Sara Hector speeds down the course during a women's World Cup giant slalom, in Kronplatz, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

Italy's Federica Brignone speeds down the course during a women's World Cup giant slalom, in Kronplatz, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung agreed Friday to work together to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz and ease global economic uncertainties caused by the war in the Middle East.

Their summit in Seoul came as U.S. President Donald Trump slammed allies for not supporting the U.S. and Israeli war against Iran. Macron was making his first visit to South Korea since taking office in 2017 as part of an Asian tour that already has taken him to Japan.

Macron told Lee at the start of the meeting that the two countries can play a role in helping to stabilize the situation in the Middle East, including the Strait of Hormuz, according to South Korean media.

At a joint televised briefing afterward, Macron underscored the need for France and South Korea to cooperate to help reopen the strait and de-escalate Middle East animosities, while Lee said the two affirmed “their resolves to cooperate to secure the safe shipping route in the Strait of Hormuz.”

The two leaders did not take questions and did not elaborate on how they would help reopen the strait, the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil passes.

Lee said he and Macron agreed to expand cooperation in technology, energy and other areas. South Korean and French officials also signed agreements to cooperate on nuclear fuel supply chains, jointly invest in an offshore wind project in southern South Korea and to collaborate on critical minerals.

Macron’s Asia trip comes as Trump has ramped up his frustration with allies. In a speech Wednesday, Trump said Americans “don’t need” the strait but the countries who do “must grab it and cherish it.”

“Let South Korea, you know, we only have 45,000 soldiers in harm’s way over there, right next to a nuclear force — let South Korea do it,” Trump said. “Let Japan do it. They get 90% of their oil from the strait. Let China do it.”

Macron has said reopening the Strait of Hormuz through a military operation was unrealistic.

South Korean officials have said they were in contact with Washington on the issue and that Seoul wasn’t considering paying Iran transit fees to secure fuel shipments through the strait.

The United States stations about 28,000 troops in South Korea, not the 45,000 stated by Trump. The U.S. troops’ deployment in South Korea is meant to deter potential aggressions from North Korea.

French President Emmanuel Macron, front left, his wife Brigitte Macron, back center, and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, front right, and his wife Kim Hea Kyung, right, attend the welcome ceremony at the presidential Blue House in Seoul Friday, April 3, 2026. (Jung Yeon-je /Pool Photo via AP)

French President Emmanuel Macron, center, his wife Brigitte Macron, left, and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, right, and his wife Kim Hea Kyung, second left, attend the welcome ceremony at the presidential Blue House in Seoul Friday, April 3, 2026. (Jung Yeon-je /Pool Photo via AP)

French President Emmanuel Macron, second left, talks with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, second right, during their meeting at the Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, April 3, 2026. (Jung Yeon-je/Pool Photo via AP)

French President Emmanuel Macron shakes hands with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung during their meeting at the Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, April 3, 2026. (Jung Yeon-je/Pool Photo via AP)