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Springtime is crunch time. The calendar is packed. Journey miles are mounting. Legs are heavy. Focus is ephemeral. We’re on the level within the season the place temper and ambition can imply every little thing.
Slovak Petra Vlhova’s probabilities for an general title simply received wings from a 180-point weekend on her residence hill in Jasna on the again of an enormous slalom win and runner-up end within the slalom. In truth, the entire crew received wings courtesy of the Slovak authorities, which commissioned a airplane to move Group Vlhova instantly from Slovakia to Sweden for the slalom double on Friday and Saturday in Åre.
In case you wanted any extra proof of the significance this general title means to this nation of 5.5 million folks, take into account that Slovakian TV didn’t cowl ladies’s snowboarding till Vlhova and her predecessor, Veronika Velez-Zuzulova, began to win races. Behind biking mega star, Peter Sagan, Petra Vlhova would possibly simply be the county’s most acknowledged sports activities star. This can be a jumbo-jet sized deal, with the type of nationwide stress that People would possibly by no means really feel outdoors the Olympic quadrennial.
Enter the angered Mikaela Shiffrin. As go superstars, you’ll discover few so brazenly well mannered, grateful and constantly deferential in victory as she. In opposition to that backstory, it made her criticism of the race organizers final weekend reverberate all of the louder. She known as the two-plus minute race maintain “unprofessional.” Proper or incorrect, it clearly raised her ire. I’ve by no means heard Shiffrin sound so brazenly vexed in a post-race interview. Now six days and a few 24 hours of journey later, she may have these feelings to cope with together with the stir they created.
From what I noticed within the last gates of the slalom in Jasna, I don’t suppose there may be any query who the quickest slalom skier on the planet is correct now. If Shiffrin reveals simply a few of that pace over the following three slalom races, she’s going to pull forward of Vlhova, win the slalom title and sure break Ingemar Stenmark’s document of 46 wins in a single self-discipline. Shiffrin is at 45.
Whereas many issues can occur over the course of the remaining six races on the calendar, Vlhova can win the general title by ending second, third, and even decrease within the three remaining slalom races. However in addition to standings-leader Lara Intestine-Behrami is snowboarding in downhill, tremendous G and GS, Vlhova can’t afford a single slalom goose egg by snowboarding out. Given these penalties, it is going to be onerous to carry off Shiffrin within the race for the slalom title.
There’s one caveat. Some 2-to-3 feat of snow have fallen because the hill was water-injected roughly per week in the past. Will probably be agency, however not onerous. In different phrases, it is going to be simple snow on a simple hill, and that opens the door to extra skiers. That may bode properly for skiers vying from larger numbers together with People Paula Moltzan (21), Nina O’Brien (28), Lila Lapanja (37), Resi Stiegler (45) and AJ Damage (49), who simply arrived to the occasion after her bronze-medal slalom efficiency on the world junior championship in Bansko, Bulgaria. Moltzan seems to be a shoo-in to rank among the many high 25 and qualify for the finals. O’Brien will want two extra finishes like her ninth earlier within the season.
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