Gurgl (Austria) (AFP) – American skier Mikaela Shiffrin picked up a record-extending 103rd World Cup victory when she posted the quickest time in both runs of the women’s slalom at Gurgl on Sunday. The 30-year-old flew down the piste, with its vertical drop of 210m from an altitude of 2265m, to lead Albanian teenager Lara Colturi by 0.31sec after the first run. She then extended that lead to 1.23sec through the 63 gates of the second descent as Colturi held second and Swiss ace Camille Rast rounded out the podium.
“That wasn’t easy, I really had to push it so it was a great run,” said Shiffrin after wrapping the win. “It was really nice with the sun on the second run. From last year, I remember it was so dark, so this was a really nice surprise.”
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After opening the season with a fourth-placed finish in the giant slalom at Soelden, Shiffrin won her first slalom of the new season last weekend in Levi, Finland. This slalom win was a 66th for Shiffrin who leads both the discipline and overall standings after three events, showing that with the Olympics on the horizon at the start of next year, she is over last season’s horrific abdominal puncture injury.
Colturi, who also finished second behind Shiffrin in Levi last week, confirmed her excellent start to the season at just 19 years of age while Rast, the world champion, finally returned to the podium after months of struggling with hip problems.
Shiffrin can make it a hat-trick of slalom wins in next weekend’s action on home snow at Copper Mountain, where she is also due to race in a giant slalom.
© 2024 AFP
