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JASNA, Slovakia — Mikaela Shiffrin denied rival Petra Vlhova a house victory Saturday, successful the primary World Cup slalom following the world championships.
Shiffrin trailed first-run chief Vlhova by 0.27 seconds on a hill the place the Slovakian commonly trains.
However the American had a blistering last run to win the race by 0.34 as the 2 continued their dominance within the self-discipline.
They’ve mixed to win 31 of the 32 World Cup slaloms held since January 2017, a streak interrupted solely by Switzerland’s Michelle Gisin.
“I really feel fairly wonderful about it,” Shiffrin mentioned about her forty fifth profession slalom win and 69th general. “It was a extremely good combat for me and that is a reasonably good feeling to have proper now.”
The consequence moved Shiffrin inside one victory of a World Cup document. Just one skier, male or feminine, has gained extra races in a single self-discipline: Swedish nice Ingemar Stenmark triumphed 46 occasions in large slalom within the Nineteen Seventies and ’80s.
Wendy Holdener completed 0.52 behind in third. It was the twenty sixth profession slalom podium for the Swiss skier, who’s but to win a race within the self-discipline.
Katharina Liensberger was 1.42 off the lead in fourth and missed a slalom podium for the primary time this season.
The Austrian beat Vlhova and Shiffrin to take gold within the slalom on the world championships two weeks in the past, ending the American’s streak of 4 world titles.
Shiffrin gained bronze at worlds however later mentioned she was disillusioned in her snowboarding.
On Saturday, although, the three-time general champion was again to her finest.
“That was good; it was a extremely massive step,” mentioned Shiffrin, who nonetheless discovered “some small issues” she might have performed higher.
“Nevertheless it was OK as I stored pushing. That is the sensation that I need to have,” she mentioned. “At the moment it was adequate to win, typically it is not. However that is the sensation, that is the combat.”
The race resembled the victory from Shiffrin’s solely earlier go to to the Slovakian resort, in 2016, when she additionally beat the house nation’s favourite, Veronika Velez-Zuzulova.
“Final time it was the combat between Zuzu and me,” Shiffrin mentioned. “It is really fairly a pleasure to come back right here and have that combat with these ladies. The 2 occasions we got here to Jasna, we had a Slovakian lady who was on high degree.”
The principle distinction, nonetheless, was the shortage of spectators on Saturday amid anti-coronavirus measures.
“Final time, for certain, the gang was larger and you can really feel the ambiance extra for the hometown lady,” Shiffrin mentioned.
The consequence gave new impetus to the battle for the slalom season title. With three races left, Vlhova was main Shiffrin by 45 factors, with Liensberger 70 factors behind in third.
Vlhova narrowed the hole on general World Cup chief Lara Intestine-Behrami. The Swiss skier sat out the race and was holding a lead of 107 factors.
The race weekend was initially scheduled to start out with a large slalom, however organizers swapped this system as unfavorable climate was forecast and moved the GS to Sunday.
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