Albanian skier Lara Colturi finishes 16th in the giant slalom at the Milano Cortina 2026. She comes close to winning Albania’s first medal in Winter Olympic history. She clocks 2:14.82.

The 19-year-old Italian-Albanian delivers a strong first run. She records one of the fastest times at that stage. In the second run, she makes mistakes on several gates. She loses valuable seconds. She finishes 1.32 seconds behind the winner.

Italy’s Federica Brignone wins gold with a time of 2:13.50. She claims her second personal gold medal at these Games.

The race remains extremely tight. Sweden’s Sara Hector and Norway’s Louise Stjernesund finish with identical times of 2:14.12. They take silver, just 0.62 seconds behind first place. Italy’s Lara Della Mea places fourth.

After the race, Colturi tells TVSH she feels satisfied with her first run. She says she cannot explain the mistakes in the second run. She remains mentally strong. She aims to give her best in the upcoming slalom event.

Colturi says she feels proud to compete at the Olympics. She thanks her supporters. She adds that skiing is becoming more popular in Albania.

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