Mikaela Shiffrin continued her dominance in women’s slalom skiing by winning her fourth straight race of the season on Tuesday night, claiming a record-extending 105th World Cup victory.
The American skier led after the first run and increased her advantage in the second to finish 1.55 seconds ahead of Switzerland’s Camille Rast, with Germany’s Emma Aicher placing third, 1.71 seconds back, in a night race in the French Alps.
Shiffrin has now won all four slaloms this season and five in a row overall, including the final event of last winter. Each of her victories this season has come by more than one second, highlighting her clear superiority in the discipline.
Several top competitors failed to finish. Germany’s Lena Duerr, third after the first run, skied out early in her second run. Lara Colturi, racing for Albania, missed a gate late in her opening run, ending her streak of three straight slalom podiums.
Swiss skier Wendy Holdener had a scare after hitting a hole near the finish and landing on her back, but she was able to complete the second run and finished seventh. Defending World Cup slalom champion Zrinka Ljutic and Olympic silver medalist Katharina Liensberger also failed to finish, marking the third consecutive slalom DNF for Ljutic.
Austria’s Katharina Truppe finished fourth, while American Paula Moltzan climbed from ninth to fifth with the fastest second run.
The win was Shiffrin’s 68th career World Cup slalom victory. She is a two-time Olympic gold medalist, having won slalom gold in Sochi 2014 and giant slalom gold in Pyeongchang 2018.
The next Winter Olympics will be held in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, a venue where Shiffrin won four medals at the 2021 World Championships. Former champion Lindsey Vonn, who recently won a World Cup downhill at age 41, will race this weekend in Val d’Isère in the downhill and super-G.
Photo credit: Mikaela Shiffrin/X
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