The women’s World Cup circuit lit up Courchevel, France, last night for a classic night Slalom—tight, icy, dramatic, and ultimately dominated once again by Mikaela Shiffrin. Under the floodlights in the French Alps, Shiffrin stood on the top step of the podium yet again, for the fourth straight Slalom of the season and the 105th time of her career. Rounding out the podium on Tuesday, December 16, were Switzerland’s Camille Rast in second and Germany’s Emma Aicher in third, just three days after winning the Downhill in St. Moritz, Switzerland.
Run 1: The Ruthless Selection
Setting the pace on run 1 was Germany’s Lena Dürr with a time of 50.93 seconds. Dürr was promptly pipped by Camille Rast in bib 2 by 0.33 seconds before Mikaela Shiffrin in bib 7 stormed ahead into the lead, a staggering 0.83 seconds ahead of Rast. The American attacked the course with her trademark precision and aggression, managing the steep terrain and rhythm changes better than anyone else in the field. “I am not asking questions,” Shiffrin said afterward. “Right now, tonight—don’t ask questions, just ride the wave.”
However, for many others, the first run immediately showed just how demanding the Courchevel course can be. The steep pitch and aggressive set claimed several prominent names from the top 7, who benefit from a special bib lottery: last season’s Slalom crystal globe winner Zrinka Ljutic in bib 3, Albanian-Italian Lara Colturi in bib 5, as well as Katharina Liensberger in bib 6. In total, 17 skiers ended with the dreaded DNF behind their names.
Meanwhile, Dürr’s teammate Emma Aicher stayed within striking distance in fourth, while Shiffrin’s teammate Paula Moltzan qualified in a strong ninth place. With only the top 30 athletes advancing to run 2, Elisabeth Bocock (36th), Liv Moritz (40th), and Nina O’Brien (42nd) did not qualify.
Run 2: Controlled Chaos
If the first run was technical, the second was outright wild. The deteriorating surface, deep ruts, and unpredictable grip caused problems from the top, drawing gasps from the packed French crowd.
First up was Ana Bucik, who set an incredibly fast second run with 52.57. With a combined time of 1:46.69 minutes, the Slovenian skier’s time managed to boost her standing by 15 positions at the end of the day.
A similar standout run was achieved by Austria’s Lisa Hörhager and Team USA’s Moltzan, who skied the second-fastest and fastest second run of the day. Moltzan, whose trademark move by now is a spectacular second run, managed to boost herself into overall fifth place. “I’m happy to have found some consistency in my slalom,” the American said after the race. “All there is to do is keep moving forward and pushing.”
Emma Aicher delivered a controlled second run—something she had often been ascribed to lacking—and shot into the lead with three skiers left to go, including her teammate Dürr. Unfortunately for the seasoned Slalom specialist, today her usual consistency failed, and the Dürr came out of the course on the top section, ending her bid for her second Slalom podium of the season.
Meanwhile, Rast managed to hang on for dear life on the deteriorating course and skied into the lead despite a mistake early on the top section. She was followed by Shiffrin, who also struggled to keep things tidy, visibly fighting the course through several sections. “It’s a wonder I made it to the finish this time,” Shiffrin admitted. But it was enough for the win, and the legendary ski racer claimed her fourth consecutive Slalom victory of the season. “That was a tough second run,” she admitted in a post-race interview, “Sometimes I had trouble to stay on the course but to stay dynamic worked fine.” Despite the mistakes, Shiffrin somehow lost no time where it mattered and extended her lead to a total of 1:42.50 minutes, 1.55 seconds, and 1.71 seconds ahead of Rast and Aicher.
Emma Aicher completed a remarkable week by skiing onto the Slalom podium just days after winning the Downhill in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The 22-year-old German continues to prove she is a genuine all-discipline threat. “I’m actually really proud I could pull this off,” Aicher said. “Speed skiing on Sunday and then today—I just had to trust the training.”
Aicher now heads to Val d’Isère for the upcoming speed races on December 20 and 21, while Shiffrin will take a brief pause before refocusing on Giant Slalom and carefully reintegrating Super-G into her program. “I have some goals I would like to accomplish with Giant Slalom,” Shiffrin said. “And then try to fit some Super-G days in there just to feel more comfortable.” The women’s tech races continue in Semmering, Austria, on December 27 and 28.
