Killington (United States) (AFP) – Mikaela Shiffrin’s bid for a milestone 100th alpine World Cup victory was on hold after the US superstar crashed out of the Killington giant slalom won by Sweden’s Sara Hector on Saturday. Shiffrin, already the owner of the most World Cup victories in history, was poised to claim a once unimaginable century after topping the first-run times.
She looked on course for the win when she crashed heavily in the second leg and slid into the catch-fencing, and Olympic gold medallist Hector of Sweden emerged with the victory with a total of 1min 53.08sec. Shiffrin, 29, already has 13 more World Cup wins than the most successful man, Ingemar Stenmark, and 17 more than the second woman, compatriot Lindsey Vonn.
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Needing three wins to hit 100 to start the season, she bagged her 98th and 99th career titles with back-to-back slalom wins in Levi, Finland, and Gurgl, Austria. That gave her a chance to complete her century in front of home fans in Killington, not far from where she attended Burke Mountain Academy as a youngster.
Shiffrin — who has won six slaloms at Killington but never a giant slalom — was greeted by ecstatic cheers as she crossed the finish line of the first leg. But her day ended not in celebration but in the 21st “Did Not Finish” in her 274 career starts. Skiing last in the second run, Shiffrin was 17 hundredths of a second ahead of Hector after the second sector.
But a mistake heading into a steep section saw her lose her balance, and a second error sent her spinning off the course. “I’m very happy, after going through a difficult period,” Hector said. “Obviously, I’m very sad for Mikaela, who was skiing so well. I saw her fall. My heart goes out to her,” she added.
Croatia’s Zrinka Ljutic finished second, 54-hundredths of a second behind Hector, and Switzerland’s Camille Rast was third, 1.05 seconds back. The women are scheduled to race a slalom on Sunday.
© 2024 AFP
