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Mikaela Shiffrin completes World Cup sweep in Lienz, Austria

Ryan Sederquist
rsederquist@vaildaily.com
Mikaela Shiffrin crashed and injured her left leg 17 seconds into a downhill run Friday.
Getty Images

Mikaela Shiffrin tempered her attack in the second run of Thursday’s giant slalom victory in Lienz, Austria. In Friday’s slalom, she let it rip for her 93rd World Cup career win.

“Today I was really thinking don’t hold back,” the American superstar told reporters after the race.

Shiffrin extended a 1.14-second first-run lead over teammate Paula Moltzan with a flawless final performance on the Schlossberg slope to claim her 56th-career World Cup slalom win. Her two run time of 1 minute, 48.75 seconds was 2.34 seconds ahead of runner-up Lena Duerr of Germany and 2.45 seconds clear of Swiss skier Michelle Gisin.



“Yeah insane,” Shiffrin told FIS media in a podium interview. “Today was a very special day for me. I don’t know — I felt perfect on the skis, so I’m super happy.”

She looked perfect, too. In the first run, she set the fastest sector splits across the board except for the opening leg — where only Moltzan was faster. The Americans sat 1-2, just where they finished on the same date exactly one year ago in Semmering.



“I had such a good feeling. So super happy with that, and so happy for Paula as well, just like great skiing,” Shiffrin told The Associated Press after run No. 1.

“It’s definitely a push today,” Shiffrin said. “I took the last four days of training and then straight to the race yesterday, and so I knew today would be six days in a row, it was going to be maybe a little bit tiring. But I wanted to feel comfortable with the skiing.”

Christmas has been good to Shiffrin in the past. In 2019, she won both slalom and giant slalom races in Lienz and in 2022 she swept three tech events 200 miles away in Semmering.

“Yeah for the last couple years I really building through the beginning of the season to this point and somehow it clicks I guess,” she said. “I don’t know what to say. It’s a very nice feeling right now.”

After a relatively disappointing day from Shiffrin’s chief rival Petra Vlhova, who won the last World Cup slalom in Courchevel, France on Dec. 21, the door was open for the Americans to repeat their Dec. 29 specialty — a 1-2 finish.

Moltzan pushed out of the gate with aggression, skiing a risky but rhythmic line through the first two sectors. A slight bobble coming into the lower section of the course foretold of a more catastrophic mistake which lay ahead for the former two-time All-American at the University of Vermont. Moltzan’s tight line caught up to her in the homestretch, as the 29-year-old’s inside ski boot caught one of the final gates and sent her to her hip and off the course on a sharp right turn.

Working with the largest lead any skier has had after the first run of a slalom in four years, Shiffrin didn’t hold back as she appeared to do in Thursday’s win. Instead, she blasted down the 62-gate second-run course, unfazed by its unique requirements.

“First and second run were totally different courses — very different timing, different flow and I felt I just had a really good plan,” Shiffrin said. “My coaches pointed out the really key sections of the course and (gave me a) really good, precise, easy course report. Then it was good to go.”

Shiffrin maintained a stable upper body thoughout, staying high and early above the gates. She wasn’t conservative, letting her skis run down the fall line where she could to extend her lead from 1.92 seconds in the first sector to 2.13 by the second, which she skied faster than everyone. By the end, the advantage was a monstrous 2.34 seconds. In case you were wondering, Shiffrin holds the record for the largest margin of victory in a slalom. She won by 3.07 seconds in Aspen in 2015.

“It’s a big gap but there’s some races, some conditions that are so unique and it gives the ability to, when you’re really taking on the speed, it gives you the ability to find a gap,” Shiffrin said. “Today it was me, but maybe the next race it’s Petra again.”

Per usual, Shiffrin’s victory Friday was laced with records. The U.S. surpassed Austria for the most women’s slalom wins of any country with 89. Shiffrin also reached the podium for the 12th time in her last 13 participations (the only exception being a fourth place in Levi on Nov. 11).

There is still some record-chasing to be done, too.

The 28-year-old, who passed Ingemar Stenmark for the most World Cup wins in a career last season, inched closer to the great Swede for most World Cup slalom podiums. Stenmark has 81 to Shiffrin’s 80. The Edwards skier’s next chance will come when the World Cup travels to Kranjska Gora, Slovenia for a slalom and giant slalom Jan. 6-7.

When asked about how she would celebrate the New Year, Shiffrin answered, “probably training.” After claiming her 93rd-career World Cup win, she added that she “certainly has wishes” for 2024.

“But in skiing it’s always just be relentless with the work, do the job, and try to enjoy it.”

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