Skiing: Kiwi Alice Robinson produces stunning second at World Cup finals

Alice Robinson celebrates during the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Women's Giant Slalom. Photo / Getty

Kiwi skiier Alice Robinson says hopefully her silver medal performance in the giant slalom at the World Cup finals this morning as provided some 'good feelings' back home following the Christchurch mosque shootings.

The 17-year-old finished second behind overall World Cup champion Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States by 0.3 of a second.

Robinson only earned her World Cup finals entry by winning the giant slalom at the junior world championships last month.

Talking to the Radio Sport Breakfast, Robinson said her thoughts were with people back in New Zealand following the mosque shootings on Friday that killed 50 people.

"It's been a sad week and everyone was down spirits so I tried really hard to get a good result and maybe put a smile on people's faces. Although everything is going on, try and find some good feelings for everyone," she said.

Robinson said the conditions were perfect in Andorra with the mountain surface holding up.

"It was just really good conditions. It's didn't break up. I was starting last on the first run and there was hardly any bumps or anything. Normally a lot of surfaces deteriorate a little bit and this one was really good. It was perfect.

"I've been skiing really well in training so I was really excited about putting it into a race. Unfortunately it's the last event of the season and it starts up again in October so I can rest of a little bit and get ready for the next season."

The event featured the season's top 25 skiers. World Champion Petra Vlhova of Slovakia was third.

The New Zealand prospect got her first career podium when just six months older than Shiffrin was getting her first top-3 finish, in a December 2011 slalom.

"It's an amazing feeling," Robinson told Swiss broadcaster RTS. "It's crazy, so cool to share the first podium with Petra and Mikaela. They're such great skiers."

Congrats @MikaelaShiffrin on a mega record breaking season! Incredibly impressive! And congrats to young Alice Robinson on the podium! If she keeps skiing like that there will be a few ladies shooting for the GS globe next year!

— Steven Nyman (@Steven_Nyman) March 17, 2019

alice robinson from new zealand, a 17 year old skier, just ACED the giant slalom and i legit teared up a bit when she came in second cause new zealand only deserves good things

— michelle (@maIeficent) March 17, 2019

Alice Robinson, wow! #fisalpine ⛷🇳🇿

— Peter Davies (@peterdav93) March 17, 2019

Shiffrin had plenty of praise for Robinson.

"She did amazing skiing in the first run and she backed it up with a really amazing performance and now she has her first World Cup podium. That's super cool.

"It was the perfect day for her to be able to attack like that and the conditions were amazing, everything was just right there and she took advantage of it and her skiing was awesome. It was really really cool."

It's been a whirlwind few months for Robinson, who represented New Zealand at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics as a 16-year-old.

She will head home to Queenstown after four months on the road next week to resume her schooling.

Shiffrin's 17th World Cup race win this season also extended her own record for men and women. At age 24, her 60 career wins trails only 26 behind Ingemar Stenmark's all-time total.

The American star needed only a top-15 finish on a sun-soaked day in Andorra to ensure closest challenger Petra Vlhova could not overhaul her points total.