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ZAGREB, Croatia — Solely her Slovakian rival Petra Vlhova remained out of attain. In any other case, Mikaela Shiffrin had a satisfying return to competitors at a floodlit slalom Tuesday after testing optimistic for COVID-19 and lacking two races final week. The American trailed winner Vlhova by five-tenths of a second within the first World Cup race of the calendar yr.
“I believe I had actually good snowboarding,” Shiffrin mentioned. “Particularly after the final two weeks it is actually fantastic to return again. That I might ski a few of my greatest slalom is admittedly cool.”
Shiffrin, who on Monday was cleared to race, was the one competitor in robust race circumstances to complete inside two seconds of Vlhova’s successful time, as slalom world champion Katharina Liensberger in third was already a large 2.11 seconds behind.
Two weeks in the past, Shiffrin positioned first and second, respectively, in two large slaloms in France however examined optimistic for COVID-19 prior to 2 technical races in Austria the next week.
“After Courchevel my tank was completely empty, so I wanted a while to relaxation — after which I acquired plenty of time to relaxation,” Shiffrin mentioned. “It wasn’t actually restoration and I wasn’t capable of do any actual workouts or coaching for 10 or extra days.”
Vlhova gained the slalom within the Lienzer Dolomites whereas Shiffrin was quarantining final week. She has gained 4 of this season’s 5 slaloms and leads the self-discipline standings by 140 factors over Shiffrin with 4 races left. The American remained within the total lead, 115 factors forward of her Slovakian rival.
Her big deficit within the slalom rating has made Shiffrin conscious that she has “nothing to lose” as successful a seventh season title in her strongest self-discipline appears a far stretch to her.
“I’m not within the competitors for the globe anymore. There’s simply too many issues which have occurred up to now this yr so I am simply attempting to push each single run,” the American mentioned.
“These two runs at present, it is best coaching that I can get,” she continued. “It is good observe, bodily and mentally. If nothing else, I am getting again on monitor, step-by-step, and at present is a extremely, actually huge step.”
Nonetheless, Vlhova remained a step forward of Shiffrin for her third straight win within the conventional first slalom race of the calendar yr, which the American had gained 4 occasions between 2013 and 2019.
“It was actually robust as a result of circumstances weren’t so excellent,” mentioned Vlhova, who has gained 11 of the final 17 World Cup slaloms. “Additionally, Zagreb is admittedly lengthy, so if you end up coming into the final pitch, you begin to really feel your legs, so you must, like, breathe once more and restart once more.”
The tender snow floor on the Crveni Spust course and gusts whipping up eddies of leaves made for difficult circumstances, and the race needed to be interrupted after 17 starters within the second run as organizers eliminated the end line banner for security causes amid the rising winds.
Liensberger was one in every of many racers who misplaced appreciable time, and even skied out, going by means of a gap within the snow floor about 15 seconds into the run. Shiffrin and Vlhova picked a wider line to keep away from the impediment and clear the following gate with out issues, whereas successful a couple of second on most opponents.
Wendy Holdener, who was third after the opening run, additionally struggled at that spot and dropped to fourth, simply forward of Ali Nullmeyer. The Canadian skier posted the quickest second-run time and improved from seventeenth for her career-best consequence.
A minimum of seven racers, together with three from the Swiss staff, needed to sit out the occasion after testing optimistic for COVID-19, which requires a 10-day quarantine and a detrimental take a look at earlier than the racers are allowed again onto the circuit.
No spectators have been allowed on the race on the outskirts of the Croatian capital, which normally is among the many best-visited occasions on the ladies’s calendar.
The ladies’s World Cup continues with a GS and a slalom in Kranjska Gora this weekend, an occasion that has been moved from one other Slovenian resort, Maribor, due to a scarcity of snow.
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