Industry News
Legendary American skier Mikaela Shiffrin has taken the record of most World Cup victories to a new high, adding victory number 90 to her incredible portfolio of ski racing victories. Earlier this year Shiffrin became the world’s most successful ski racer in terms of FIS World Cup victories, when the 28-year-old won her 87th World Cup at Åre, Sweden, surpassing Sweden’s Ingemar Stenmark.
This weekend saw the women’s technical skiers compete in two races, a Giant Slalom, and a Slalom, on the Superstar course at Killington, Vermont. Both days, all eyes were on local favorite, Mikaela Shiffrin. On Saturday’s Giant Slalom race the American had come third, behind Switzerland’s Lara Gut-Behrami and New Zealand’s Alice Robinson. However, Slalom is Shiffrin’s strongest discipline, and the American was on home turf, so expectations were naturally running high. While Shiffrin lives in Colorado, the American ski racer spent five years living in New Hampshire and also attended Burke Mountain Academy in Vermont. Shiffrin did not disappoint her adoring fans, putting down two near-flawless runs on the Superstar Slalom course, claiming her 90th World Cup victory.
”It’s amazing to do this, specifically here with the home crowd. I can hear them cheering at every split where the intermediate times are. Every time I pass one, I hear them get louder, and I’m like, oh man, I don’t know if I’m ahead or behind, but either way, I’ve got a push. So it’s amazing to ski with that kind of energy.”
— Mikaela Shiffrin
A Slalom race is held in two runs, with the top 30 skiers qualifying from the first run for the second run. The combined time of both runs counts, and the second run is held in reverse order, meaning the fastest skier from the first run will go last. Shiffrin had skied into first place on the first run, with a time of 48.27 seconds. Second was Germany’s Lena Dürr just 0.19 seconds behind the American, and third was Petra Vlhova from Slovakia 0.28 seconds behind Shiffrin. Switzerland’s Wendy Holdener came in fourth 0.37 seconds behind and Croatia’s Leona Popovic, who had placed second in Levi, Finland, two weeks ago, was in fifth just 0.49 seconds behind. Realistically the podium was in any of those five ski racers’ reach. Shiffrin’s teammate Paula Moltzan was sixth with 1.21 seconds behind.
The second run in reverse order promised to be a nail-biter and did not disappoint. The most noteworthy performance ahead of the final five skiers was probably by Italy’s Marta Rossetti. The 24-year-old had skied with a bib number 32 into 13th place on the first run and put down the third fastest second run of the day, catapulting her into overall fifth place, a personal best for the young Italian skier.
Paula Moltzan made a mistake on the top section of the course that cost her almost a second. While she recovered from almost sliding out and tried her best to get back into the rhythm, it meant she could not quite make up the time, finishing in overall eighth place. Popovic struggled on her second run, making several mistakes on the top section. While none of them caused her to be disqualified, they cost her several valuable seconds that meant she had the slowest second run of the day. The Croatian was visibly upset in the finish area but tried her best to shrug it off. Wendy Holdener put down a good second run, taking the lead from Rossetti.
Everything was still open with the final three left to go, especially when so many great skiers had struggled on their second run. Slovakia’s Petra Vlhova put down an aggressive run with short turns and fluid agility, giving her the lead ahead of Holdener more than an entire second ahead of Holdener. Germany’s Lena Dürr went fluid through the top section of the course but the middle section cost her some milliseconds. Then the German made a mistake on the bottom half that cost her a whole second and the German was pushed down behind Vlhova and Holdener. All eyes were on the final skier, Mikaela Shiffrin. In her typical flawless and effortless style the American put down the fastest second run of the day as well, giving her the overall victory at Killington. This marks her sixth career victory in Slalom at Killington.
