KUHTAI (AUSTRIA) - Sweden's Sara Hector opened her World Cup account on Sunday when winning the giant slalom at Kuhtai in Austria.
Sara Hector competes in the Women's World Cup Giant Slalom in Kuehtai, Austria on December 28, 2014
The 22-year-old clocked a time of 2min 17.61sec to see off Anna Fenninger of Austria who took silver at nine hundredths of a second and American Mikaela Shiffrin.
Hector set off for her first run in poor visibility but still managed to place second at 27 hundredths of a second behind Shiffrin.
Hector then made up time towards the end of her second run.
"They told me the slope was gentle here, that's what I'd heard, but it's not true!" she told the post-race press conference.
Hector was building on her bright showing when claiming second in the last World Cup giant slalom at Are. Up to then her best placing was fifth.
She added: "It's not easy to put into words the emotions I'm feeling right now.
"I know how to ski, I'm not perfect but I can always improve."
Hector's win reflected the open nature of the discipline as she was the fifth different woman in four races - Fenninger and Shiffrin double-heating in Sölden, Eva-Maria Brem winning in Aspen, Tina Maze in Are and now Hector in Kuhtai.
The leader of the World Cup overall standings, Maze of Slovenia, had to settle for a share of seventh place.
She comfortably leads the classification however on 692 points from Fenninger (487) and Shiffrin (345).
The giant slalom standings are led by Austria's Brem who was fourth on the day.
This leg of the World Cup season was switched after poor snow cover at the original venue of Semmering.