Mikaela Shiffrin wins World Cup slalom in Vermont
Mikaela Shiffrin woke up this morning all nervous and edgy. By the end of the afternoon, it was hard to wonder why.
With her 95-year-old grandmother among the thousands cheering her, Shriffin won her sixth straight World Cup slalom Sunday after building a healthy lead in the first run and holding off some hard chargers in the second.
The overall World Cup leader had a combined time of 1 minute, 27.95 seconds. She was followed by Slovakia’s Veronika Velez Zuzulova, 0.73 seconds, and Switzerland’s Wendy Holdener in 1:28.81.
Norway’s Nina Loeseth, runnerup in Saturday’s giant slalom, was fourth in 1:29.29 - 0.01 seconds ahead of Slovakia’s Petra Vlhova. The top five finishers from the first run finished in the same positions.
Shiffrin said she put a lot of pressure on herself about racing in the East. And Sunday began with a sense of dread.
“I told myself, maybe I just should not do this,” she said, adding she did not shake the feelings until the second run. “I was worked up and really nervous.”
But the skier who attended Burke Mountain Academy in northern Vermont had no shortage of fans behind her.
“Thank you so much for cheering so loud,” she told those packing the two grandstands and lining the bottom of the course.
Shiffrin spent the Thanksgiving holiday with her family, including her grandmother.
“It was amazing that Nana was here to watch,” said Shiffrin, thanking her for “the unconditional love and the incredible pies.” ‘‘I’ve never been prouder of doing anything than winning a race in front of my Nana.”