Mikaela Shiffrin Broadens All-time best with Historic 105th World Cup Giant Slalom Triumph.
Mikaela Shiffrin isn't just winning each slalom of the Winter Games season. Her control over each race and winning by large margins as well.
A Night of Record-Extending Skiing
The US ski sensation secured a 105th record-broadening World Cup victory after a number of her top challengers failed to finish during the first run of a evening event on Tuesday.
Shiffrin increased her first-run lead and ended up over one and a half seconds ahead of Swiss skier Camille Rast and 1.71 seconds ahead of German racer Emma Aicher.
"Shiffrin has now won the first four slaloms of the season – and five consecutive including the final race of the previous campaign," observed analysts.
Overwhelming Leads of Success
All of her margins of victory this season have exceeded a full second – with three of them more than 1.5 seconds: 1.66 in Levi, Finland; 1.23 in Gurgl, Austria; and 1.57 in Copper Mountain, Colorado before her latest performance in the French Alps.
Rivals Face Struggles
Opponents attempting to reach Shiffrin faced challenges.
- Lena Duerr, the German skier who was in third place after the first run, went off course early in her second trip down.
- Lara Colturi, the born in Italy skier who represents Albania, missed a gate toward the end of her opening run – halting a streak of three consecutive slalom podiums.
- Wendy Holdener achieved a seventh-place finish even with a mishap at the end of her first run where she hit a hole, was launched into the air, and landed on her back.
Reigning World Cup slalom champion Zrinka Ljutic and Olympic silver medalist Katharina Liensberger, the next two starters, were disqualified midway down the course.
This marks the third straight slalom that Ljutic has failed to finish.
Final Standings
Katharina Truppe of Austria placed fourth and American skier Paula Moltzan moved up from ninth to fifth with the quickest second run of the race.
A Legacy of Accomplishments
This win represented Shiffrin's sixty-eighth World Cup slalom victory. Her Olympic accolades include the slalom gold medal at the 2014 Sochi Olympics and the giant slalom gold four years later at the Pyeongchang Games. She didn’t medal at the 2022 Beijing Games.
The upcoming winter Olympics' women’s Alpine skiing events will be held in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy – a venue where Shiffrin won four medals in her four events at the 2021 world championships.
