Skiing: Alice Robinson could contest blue riband downhill event in future, coach says

Alice Robinson celebrates during the World Cup Women's Giant Slalom in Slovenia. Photo / Getty Images

Having conquered the world's best giant slalom skiers with an explosive performance in Slovenia over the weekend, Alice Robinson could add another discipline to her repertoire next season.

The 18-year-old has taken the alpine skiing world by storm, winning two of the six women's giant slalom world cup races, including last weekend's event in Kransjka Gora.

Robinson was lightning fast out of the start gate and performed at a different level to her rivals. She was described by one commentator as "an atomic bomb with propulsion never seen in giant slalom".

The young Kiwi is a speed skier and has made no secret of the fact she won't be lining up in slalom races any time soon. Her future lies with giant slalom, Super G and, possibly, downhill.

"She just embraces the speed and never backs off from the speed unless you tell her she needs to in a situation. That is a special young talent and something very exciting to have," Robinson's coach Chris Knight said.

Being a speed skier, Knight says, opens up the possibility of Robinson trying her hand at the blue riband event in the downhill discipline next season.

"Not yet, she hasn't even got a pair of downhill skis, but that is the plan this summer to bring downhill in and if she picks it up as quickly as she picked up Super G last summer I imagine she will be trying a few downhill's next year. That's where her talent lies - on the speed side, definitely not on the slalom side and that's what we are targeting over the next few years, the building up of two new disciplines."

Robinson sits fifth in the World Cup giant slalom standings with three races remaining in the season including the World Cup Finals in Italy next month. She is just 33 points off reigning World Champion Petra Vlhova in second, and is an outside chance of winning the season title.

The most aggressive skier on the circuit, Robinson is renowned for her speed and explosive turns. She has tried her hand at super giant slalom fleetingly this season without a lot of luck.

In her first World Cup race in Germany earlier this month, the binding popped off her ski and she recorded a DNF. But her team feels she is destined to achieve similar Super G success in time. Robinson will compete in a Europa Cup Super G race in Italy this weekend in a bid to gain valuable points for the World Cup circuit.

A big result in the final World Cup Super G race in La Thuile in Italy at the end of the month could yet see Robinson qualify in that discipline for the World Cup Finals in Cortina d'Ampezzo in late March, with the top 25 ski racers in each discipline qualifying.

"Super G is obviously her second discipline and she has improved a lot this year. She can have no problems securing a top 15 result in World Cup Super G if track conditions hold up for her. Right now she would start in the mid-40s and we need to get good results in a Europa Cup race to improve her start position in Super G." Knight said.