Winter sports – Petra Vlhova reigns supreme in Zagreb slalom, Mikaela Shiffrin takes silver on return

Petra Vlhova began the brand new 12 months as she had ended the previous one by persevering with her slalom dominance with victory in Zagreb.

The Slovakian made mild of tough situations within the Croatian capital, which introduced excessive winds and leaves blowing throughout the course, to return dwelling in a complete time of 1:56.99, half a second away from Mikaela Shiffrin.

Shiffrin’s silver was a formidable return on her first race again since contracting Covid-19 however she has now seen her total lead lower to 115 factors, whereas Vlhova stands 140 factors clear within the slalom standings.

The American recovered from an early wobble to return in just below two seconds faster than Katharina Liensberger, who completed third, however Vlhova – who went final by advantage of setting the quickest time on the primary run – was nigh-on faultless to say World Cup victory in Zagreb for the third consecutive 12 months.

“I simply needed to focus to ski clear as a result of I knew loads of ladies had issues,” she mentioned.

“It was actually powerful. Circumstances weren’t excellent. It’s not straightforward to win so many races in a row and there’s a lot of stress from the skin.

“However I’m simply making an attempt to create a bubble round me and I’m so glad to win once more.”

The lads’s slalom takes place tomorrow (January 5).