Mikaela Shiffrin claimed her 94th win in the Alpine Skiing World Cup starts after triumphing in the night slalom in Flachau (Austria). For the American skier, this is the fifth overall victory at the Hermann Maier circuit, where she won in 2013, 2014, 2018, and 2021.
In order to reach today’s success, Mikaela Shiffrin once again had to fight against her rival in the discipline, Petra Vlhova (Slovakia). The reigning Olympic slalom champion was in the lead after the first run and led by the middle of the second.
However, she made several inaccuracies in a sector where Mikaela Shiffrin was extremely accurate and fast, costing her a quarter of a second. By the end, Petra Vlhova lost another 0.24 seconds to finish 0.27 behind Mikaela Shiffrin.
Third on the podium behind the two giant slalomers was the Olympic giant slalom champion Sara Hector. For the Swede, this is her first podium in the most technical discipline.
Michelle Gisin (Switzerland) finished fourth, although she momentarily dislodged one of her poles in the second run, costing her some speed. The top 5 was formed by Anna Swenn-Larsson (Sweden), who lost two positions in the second run.
The fastest in the second run was Lara Colturi, competing for Albania, who progressed by as many as 17 places to finish ninth today. She competed in Flachau with the starting number 60.
With her victory today, Mikaela Shiffrin passed the mark of 1,000 points in the general standings for the World Cup. In it, she leads with 1,029 points and with 227 points ahead of Petra Vlhova. Third, 242 points behind the leader is Federica Brignone (Italy), who did not start in Flachau.
In the battle for the small crystal globe before the last four slaloms of the season, Mikaela Shiffrin leads by 25 points over Petra Vlhova. Third, but as much as 164 points behind the leader, is Lena Duerr (Germany), who finished only 15th today.
The Women’s World Cup season continues this weekend with the starts in Jasna (Slovakia), where Petra Vlhova will enjoy home advantage. In the Slovakian resort, there are scheduled competitions in the two technical disciplines giant slalom (Saturday) and slalom (Sunday).
