Italy's Federica Brignone laid down the two fastest runs to win gold in the women's giant slalom at the World Ski Championships in Saalbach on Thursday, as American Mikaela Shiffrin opted out of defending her title.

Brignone clocked a winning aggregate time of 2 minutes, 22.71 seconds, finishing a massive 0.90 seconds ahead of Alice Robinson, who became the first New Zealander to win a world ski medal.

American Paula Moltzan claimed bronze, 2.62 seconds off Brignone's electric pace, but just one-hundredth of a second ahead of Norway's Thea Louise Stjernesund, who was left weeping in fourth place.