Shiffrin claims fifth slalom win of season
Of the four alpine race disciplines, slalom arguably is the most difficult to dominate, even for a racer who clearly stands apart the way Mikaela Shiffrin does.
Racers are constantly turning back and forth with rapid-fire reflexes, and the fastest line is the shortest one. That means racers try to come as close to gates as possible without hooking a tip.
Another challenge: The racer who posts the fastest first run goes 30th in the second run, which means navigating a course that has developed ruts and shelves that can easily eject a racer who isn’t in perfect position and sharply focused. Shiffrin calls it “the edge of disaster.”
Those are reasons Shiffrin’s current hegemony is so stunning. The EagleVail 22-year-old captured her fifth win in six slalom races this season on Wednesday in Zagreb, Croatia by the massive margin of 1.59 seconds, her 23rd podium appearance in her last 24 slaloms. That ranks it among the best slalom streaks in history. Only Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden (38 of 39) and Vreni Schneider of Switzerland (26 of 27) have posted longer runs of slalom excellence.
It was Shiffrin’s 38th career win across all disciplines and stands sixth on the all-time women’s list, eclipsing her childhood idol Marlies Schild of Austria, whose mark she tied with a win Monday in Oslo.
It also gave Shiffrin the rare opportunity for redemption. She
straddled a gate last year in Zagreb, the lone lapse in a run of form that saw her win five of six slaloms, the only time in nine slaloms last season that she failed to place on the podium. Shiffrin previously won at Zagreb in 2013 and 2015.
“I love racing here, so I was really excited to come back this year and have a little bit of redemption and ski aggressive,” Shiffrin told the crowd over the public address system moments after her win. “I did, and I’m really happy with that.”
Wendy Holdener of Switzerland finished second and Frida Hansdotter of Sweden was third, a whopping 2.11 behind Shiffrin.
Shiffrin added another 100 points to her massive lead in the overall World Cup standings over the second-place racer, Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany. Shiffrin is at 1,081 and Rebensburg — who did not race Wednesday — has 510.
Next up for Shiffrin are giant slalom and slalom races this coming weekend in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia.