American star Shiffrin Extends Record with 105th World Cup Giant Slalom Victory.
Mikaela Shiffrin isn't just winning each slalom of the Olympic season. She is commanding each race and finishing with considerable leads as well.
An Evening Marked by History-Making Skiing
The Alpine star from the United States earned a record-extending 105th World Cup victory after several of her top challengers went out during the first run of a evening event on Tuesday.
Shiffrin added to her first-run lead and ended up over one and a half seconds ahead of Swiss skier Camille Rast and 1.71 seconds ahead of German racer Emma Aicher.
"Shiffrin has now won the opening four slaloms of the season – and five consecutive including the final race of last season," noted analysts.
Commanding Margins of Victory
All of her winning leads this season have topped a full second – with three of them more than 1.5 seconds: 1.66 in Levi, Finland; 1.23 seconds in Gurgl, Austria; and 1.57 seconds in Copper Mountain, Colorado before her latest performance in the French Alps.
Challengers Encounter Struggles
Competitors striving to match Shiffrin ran into difficulty.
- Lena Duerr, the German skier who was in third place after the first run, skied off the track early in her second trip down.
- Lara Colturi, the born in Italy skier who represents Albania, straddled a gate toward the end of her initial run – halting a streak of three consecutive slalom podiums.
- Wendy Holdener managed a seventh-place finish despite a mishap at the end of her first run where she hit a hole, was flipped into the air, and landed on her back.
Defending World Cup slalom champion Zrinka Ljutic and Olympic silver medalist Katharina Liensberger, the following two competitors, were disqualified midway down the course.
This marks the third straight slalom that Ljutic has failed to finish.
Final Standings
Katharina Truppe of Austria placed fourth and American skier Paula Moltzan climbed from ninth to fifth with the fastest second run of the race.
A Legacy of Achievements
This win represented Shiffrin's sixty-eighth World Cup slalom victory. Her Games accolades include the slalom gold medal at the 2014 Sochi Olympics and the giant slalom gold four years later at the Pyeongchang Games. She did not reach the podium at the 2022 Beijing Games.
The upcoming winter Olympics' women’s Alpine skiing events will be held in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy – a venue where Shiffrin won four medals in her four events at the 2021 world championships.
