Mikaela Shiffrin claimed her 104th World Cup victory and 67th Slalom victory today at Copper Mountain, Colorado. The legendary American ski racer claimed a commanding victory in Sunday’s World Cup Slalom, delivering two precise, composed runs in light snowfall and difficult visibility to win by a decisive 1.57 seconds over Germany’s Lena Dürr, while Albania’s Lara Colturi finished third.
Run 1: Shiffrin Sets the Standard
Switzerland’s Wendy Holdener opened the first run with a clean, controlled descent in 53.22 seconds, setting the pace for the race course at Copper. Her teammate Camille Rast followed but lost significant time in the middle and lower sections, finishing 0.90 seconds back—a run that held up only for sixth place.
Croatia’s Zrinka Ljutic, starting third, looked dangerous in the upper section before skidding in the mid-course compression and falling briefly into the backseat. The mistake forced her to straddle the next gate, ending her run prematurely—her second DNF in two days after ending yesterday’s Giant Slalom with the dreaded DNF.
Then came bib 4: Mikaela Shiffrin. Racing just 25 minutes from her hometown of Vail, Shiffrin delivered the smoothest, sharpest skiing of the morning on what was essentially home-turf. She crossed the line 0.28 seconds ahead of Holdener, a margin that looked modest only until the rest of the field struggled to keep even within a second of her pace. Only Austria’s Katharina Liensberger and Albania’s Lara Colturi subsequently finished within that window. From there, the field dropped off sharply, with gaps exceeding a full second—even among seasoned Slalom specialists like Sara Hector, Paula Moltzan, and Lena Dürr.
Team USA had seven women at the start, aside from Shiffrin, Moltzan in bib 13 qualified in 12th place, Nina O’Brien in bib 39 qualified in 27th place, while Annika Hunt and Kjersti Moritz failed to qualify for run 2, finishing in 40th and 45th place respectively. Elisabeth Bocock and Liv Moritz were disqualified after missing Slalom gates. Moritz was having a fantastic run until the last few gates and would have qualified for run 2 inside the top 20 but unfortunately lost it just yards from the finish. While disappointing for these two young skiers, they both had promising runs and it shows that with some more experience and control, Team USA has two promising talents for the future.
Run 2: Breakthroughs and Pressure
Switzerland’s Melanie Meillard opened the second run with a time of 56.38 seconds, immediately establishing the tone for a more difficult, winding set. Teammate Selina Brändli followed but dropped more than a second behind.
France’s Caitlin McFarlane, who squeaked into the second run in 28th, stunned the field as the third starter. The 23-year-old Sydney-born skier threw down the fastest second run of the entire day, vaulting herself into the leader’s chair and ultimately finishing a career-best 12th.
Paula Moltzan—still battered from a heavy crash in yesterday’s Giant Slalom in which she hit the gate with her face—attacked the second course with trademark grit. She fought aggressively through the technical middle section and took command of the race, pushing 0.45 seconds ahead of Austria’s Chiara Mair and Leona Popovic’s replacement Gallhuber. Her time in the leader’s chair was short-lived, but it underscored her resilience after a brutal 24 hours and earned her eighth place in the end.
Then came ninth starter Germany’s Lena Dürr, starting with a half-second advantage over Moltzan. Known for her rock-solid consistency—but also her occasional second-run fades—Dürr delivered one of her strongest afternoon performances in recent memory. She built on her lead, extended it to 0.78 seconds, and settled into the hot seat for a long stretch as skier after skier faltered, including Sweden’s Anna Swenn Larsson, Camille Rast and Katharina Truppe. Even her teammate Emma Aicher, well-placed in seventh after the first run, skied out high on the course, while Albania’s Colturi—one of the youngest on the World Cup circuit—came close but crossed the finish line 0.28 seconds behind the veteran skier—the second oldest on the circuit.
With Dürr still leading and only two skiers remaining, the German had a guaranteed podium. Holdener—third after the first run—bled time immediately. She lost her advantage within seconds and continued slipping behind, eventually crossing 0.42 seconds slower than Dürr. That ensured the German veteran a second place and 19-year-old Colturi a third place as only one skier was left: Mikaela Shiffrin.
Light snow continued to fall as Shiffrin pushed out of the gate for run 2, visibility wavering. She held a 1.28-second cushion over Dürr from the first run, but instead of skiing conservatively, the American expanded her advantage with clinical precision. On sections where her rivals lost chunks of time, Shiffrin squeezed out tenths—clean edge sets on the pitch, smooth transitions in the flats, and unwavering timing through the delay combinations. By the final split, the crowd erupted as her lead ballooned to 1.63 seconds. She crossed the line with a final margin of 1.57 seconds, winning in a league of her own on a day when nearly the entire field struggled with rhythm and soft snow.
Shiffrin’s victory at Copper Mountain is her third consecutive Slalom victory of the 2025-26 season and rounds out the Thanksgiving race weekend on a high for the home crowd. Races will continue in North America with Giant Slaloms scheduled for Mont Tremblant, Quebec, and Beaver Creek, Colorado.
