The women's World Cup giant slalom at wind-whipped Killington, Vermont, was cancelled Saturday after just nine skiers completed the first run.

The start of the race had been delayed by half an hour as officials made adjustments to the course amid heavy winds and blowing snow.

French veteran Tessa Worley, whose resume includes 14 World Cup giant slalom race wins and two world titles, had posted the fastest time of 49.56sec.

Reigning World Cup champion Petra Vlhova of Slovakia was second-quickest in 49.74.

But not even 10 runners made it down the hill before organisers called a halt, and US star Mikaela Shiffrin was slowest of the nine finishers -- 1.38sec behind Worley.

"Due to the continuous gusts of wind, the jury together with the organisers have decided to cancel today's @KillingtonMtn women's giant slalom," the international ski federation (FIS) said in a statement.

Worley was pleased that she managed to stick to her race plan despite the challenging conditions, with visibility especially bad, she said, on the lower part of the course.

She was disappointed that she didn't get a chance at a "real result."

"Unfortunately it's a frustrating day that ends with a cancellation," Worley said.

France's Tessa Worley was the fastest of just nine skiers who posted times before the World Cup giant slalom at Killington, Vermont, was cancelled because of high winds
France's Tessa Worley was the fastest of just nine skiers who posted times before the World Cup giant slalom at Killington, Vermont, was cancelled because of high winds GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA via AFP / TOM PENNINGTON

Shiffrin, aiming for a fourth overall title this season after an injury-hit 2020-21 campaign, opened her campaign with a giant slalom victory in Soelden in October.

But she suffered a back injury, returning to action last week at Levi, where she was edged in two slaloms by Vlhova, who pulled level with the two-time Olympic champion at the top of the early overall standings.

Shiffrin said this week she'd had just one day of giant slalom training since winning at Soelden, but she was not about to sit out a race in Killington, not far from where she was brought up skiing at Burke Mountain Academy.

"What was I going to do, like, not race," Shiffrin said after her disappointing run in the tough conditions. "I want to be here."

She will get another chance on Sunday, when she tackles Vlhova in another slalom.

Shiffrin has won four slaloms at Killington, including the most recent in 2019.

With 45 World Cup slalom race victories, she goes into Sunday's race one short of Swedish legend Ingemar Stenmark's all-time single discipline record of 46, achieved in giant slalom.

The race was the second North American World Cup cancellation in as many days.

Heavy snow wiped out the first of two scheduled men's downhills at Lake Louise, Canada, on Friday.