Mikaela Shiffrin Extends All-time best with Historic 105th World Cup Giant Slalom Triumph.
The dominance of Mikaela Shiffrin goes beyond simple winning every slalom of the Winter Games season. She’s dominating each race and securing victories by significant gaps as well.
A Night of History-Making Skiing
The US ski sensation earned a 105th record-broadening World Cup victory after a number of her top challengers failed to finish during the opening run of a evening event on Tuesday.
Shiffrin increased her first-run lead and concluded 1.55 seconds ahead of Swiss skier Camille Rast and 1.71 seconds ahead of competitor from Germany Emma Aicher.
"Shiffrin has now won the opening four slaloms of the season – and five straight including the final race of last season," observed analysts.
Commanding Margins of Victory
All of her margins of victory this season have topped a full second – with three of them more than 1.5 seconds: 1.66 in Levi, Finland; 1.23 seconds in Gurgl, Austria; and 1.57 in Copper Mountain, Colorado before her latest performance in the French Alps.
Challengers Encounter Difficulty
Rivals scrambling to catch Shiffrin ran into difficulty.
- Lena Duerr, the German skier who was third after the first run, went off course early in her second run.
- Lara Colturi, the born in Italy skier who represents Albania, straddled a gate toward the end of her opening run – halting a streak of three straight slalom podiums.
- Wendy Holdener managed 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 consecutive slalom that Ljutic has failed to finish.
Race Results
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 Achievements
This win represented Shiffrin's 68th World Cup slalom victory. Her Games accolades include gold in slalom at the 2014 Sochi Olympics and gold in giant slalom four years later at the Pyeongchang Games. She did not reach the podium 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.
