Levi (Finland) (AFP) – American ski queen Mikaela Shiffrin laid down a marker to potential challengers this season with a storming first run in the opening slalom of the World Cup programme at Levi in Finland on Saturday, which left her over a second ahead of the rest of the field. The 30-year-old, who missed much of last year due to serious injury before coming back to clinch her 100th World Cup victory, was the third to go and powered down the slopes to finish in 56.08 seconds.
No one else came close on the opening run, with Albanian skier Lara Colturi the next best, 1.08 seconds behind. The German Lena Duerr was the third fastest, finishing 1.49 seconds behind Shiffrin. Already an eight-time winner in Lapland, a record number of victories on a single slope, Shiffrin could clinch her 102nd World Cup victory at the end of the second run, further improving her all-time record for victories.
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At the end of October, in the opening giant slalom in Soelden, Austria, the American took a promising fourth place, definitively turning the page on her injury. Saturday’s second run begins at 1200 GMT.
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