Shiffrin continues to dominate W Cup slalom

KILLINGTON:

Reigning Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin captured her 10th straight slalom title by winning the World Cup race on Sunday at the Killington Resort in Vermont. The 21-yearold American clocked a combined time of one minute, 27.95 seconds to finish 0.73 seconds ahead of runner-up Veronika Velez Zuzulova of Slovakia. Swiss Wendy Holdener was third in 1:28.81.

“I put a lot of pressure on myself,” Shiffrin said. “Knowing that I’ve been performing so well in slalom, I really had a great chance of winning the slalom here.”

Shiffrin has now won the last 10 World Cup slaloms she has competed in dating back to 2015. The two-time reigning World Cup slalom champion Shiffrin led by 0.65 seconds after the first run on the Superstar Trail course.She is just two wins shy of matching Switzerland’s Vreni Schneider for the women’s record of consecutive wins for a single discipline.

Schneider won 12 straight World Cup slaloms from 1988 to 1990. Sweden’s Ingemar Stenmark won 15 consecutive men’s World Cup giant slaloms from 1978-1980.

Shiffrin can catch Schneider if she can win slalom races next month in Sestriere, Italy and Semmering, Austria.If you count her two national championships and the 2015 world championship then Shiffrin has won 13 straight races she has competed in. Last year Shiffrin missed five slalom races with a knee injury. Shiffrin won the first slalom of the season earlier this month in Levi, Finland and now leads the slalom standings with 200 points, as well as the overall standings with 325 points.

Zuzulova had the second fastest time after the first slalom run but was unable to close the gap in the second run.

Holdener posted her sixth career podium finish in slalom. “She [Shiffrin] is dominant and I think the other girls and I are on the right way to get closer. I think it will get thrilling this season,” Holdener said.

The next stop for the ladies on the World Cup circuit will take place in Lake Louise, Canada starting on Friday with two downhills and a super-G scheduled for the weekend.

Shiffrin’s American teammate Lindsey Vonn will not compete in Lake Louise after suffering a serious arm injury during a training run in Colorado. Vonn says she is hoping to return to the World Cup in January. —AFP

Mikaela Shiffrin