USA’S Mikaela Shiffrin won her second World Cup slalom of the season ahead of Slovakia’s Veronika Velez Zuzulova by 1.09 seconds, with Switzerland’s Wendy Holdener in third. The American leads the overall and slalom standings after the races in Sestriere, Italy.
It was a close second run with Shiffrin only 0.12 ahead of Velez Zuzulova and Sweden’s Frida Hansdotter not far behind in third. There was only eight tenths separating the top eight racers going into the second run. It looked like there was a possibility of an upset with such tight margins between all the racers.
Nina Loeseth of Norway was leading the second run for a fair amount of time until Holdener produced a fantastic second run. The Swiss skier was fifth after the first run but made fewer mistakes this time. The Head racer took the lead ahead of Loeseth by 0.52 seconds.
Petra Vlhova of Slovakia and Hansdotter couldn’t beat Holdener’s combined time, meaning the Swiss skier was guaranteed a podium with two racers to go. Next up was Velez Zuzulova!
The Slovakian managed to keep ahead of Holdener on all the splits but her advantage over her was slightly cut down when she crossed the finish line. Velez Zuzulova’s run took the lead by 0.12 seconds, which left the current slalom leader to come down.
Shiffrin showed her textbook slalom skiing again. The American was a lot more aggressive on the second run and didn’t make so many mistakes. She crossed the line and won the race by 1.09 seconds. Another super slalom performance!
Britain’s Alex Tilley scored her first ever World Cup slalom points with a 22nd place, beating Lara Gut in the process. Tilley was bib 38 on the start list and managed to produce a breakthrough performance in slalom.
Swiss skier Melaine Meillard managed to attack from the back of the pack. She started with bib 43 and finished an impressive 11th place. Meillard is certainly one to watch in women’s slalom this season.
Shiffrin continues to dominate slalom despite only having a small lead after the first run. Two courses with different challenges for the racers. The next race on the World Cup for the women is the Alpine Combined on 16th December at 9:30 GMT.
- Mikaela Shiffrin (USA)
- Veronika Velez Zuzulova (SVK) +1.09
- Wendy Holdener (SUI) +1.21
- Frida Hansdotter (SWE) +1.29
- Nina Loeseth (NOR) +1.73
22. Alex Tilley (GBR) +4.72
Peter Davies