Mikaela Shiffrin defeated Petra Vlhova in the slalom for the second since the beginning of the season in the Women’s Alpine Ski World Cup with an incredible second run at the night start in Schladming, Austria.
However, despite her second place, the Slovak guarantees a small globe in the discipline ahead of schedule, as her lead at the top of the standings is 220 points with a maximum of 200 remaining until the end of the campaign. Only Mikaela Shiffrin managed to beat her in Schladming and in front of a native audience in Killington at the end of November.
The American made a very aggressive second run, which, despite two minor inaccuracies, erased her delay of 0.42 seconds compared to Petra Vlhova and secured a third victory of the season in all disciplines. Petra Vlhova was second with 0.15 behind Mikaela Shiffrin, and Lena Duerr was third with a delay of 0.93 sec. For the German, this is the third podium finish of the season, as the previous two were third places in the slalom discipline, achieved in Levi, Finland in November.
For Mikaela Shiffrin, today’s victory is number 47 in slalom, which puts her at the top of the list for the most victories in one discipline in the history of the Alpine Ski World Cup. So far, she has shared first place in this ranking with the legendary Swede Ingemar Stenmark, who has 46 triumphs in the giant slalom. Ingemar Stenmark is also the leader in the ranking for the largest total number of victories with 86, where Mikaela Shiffrin is third with 73. Among them is Lindsey Vonn, who managed to win 82 victories in her career.
With her victory today, Mikaela Shiffrin managed to increase her lead at the top of the overall standings for the World Cup to 55 points over Petra Vlhova, and third with a liability of 309 is Sofia Goggia. The Italian skier does not start in Schladming, but she will have a chance to return to the battle for the big crystal globe this weekend during the starts in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee. The Austrian resort will host one descent and a super-G on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
For slalom specialists, this was the last test before the Olympic Games in Beijing next month, as the next start in the discipline is only in mid-March in Ore, Sweden.
