American star Shiffrin Expands All-time best with Historic 105th World Cup Giant Slalom Triumph.
The dominance of Mikaela Shiffrin goes beyond simple winning each slalom of the Winter Games season. She is commanding each race and finishing with considerable leads as well.
A Night of Record-Extending Performance
The American skiing standout claimed a record-extending 105th World Cup victory after a number of her primary challengers went out during the opening run of a evening event on Tuesday.
Shiffrin built upon her first-run lead and ended up 1.55 seconds ahead of Swiss skier Camille Rast and 1.71 seconds ahead of German racer Emma Aicher.
"She has currently secured the first four slaloms of the season – and five consecutive including the last event of the previous campaign," noted analysts.
Overwhelming Margins of Victory
All of her winning leads this season have topped a full second – with three of them more than 1.5 seconds: a 1.66-second lead in Levi, Finland; 1.23 in Gurgl, Austria; and 1.57 in Copper Mountain, Colorado before her most recent performance in the French Alps.
Rivals Encounter Struggles
Rivals scrambling to catch Shiffrin encountered trouble.
- Lena Duerr, the German skier who was in third place after the first run, went off course early in her second trip down.
- Lara Colturi, the born in Italy skier who represents Albania, straddled a gate toward the end of her opening run – halting a streak of three straight slalom podiums.
- Wendy Holdener managed a seventh-place finish even with a incident at the end of her first run where she encountered a rut, was launched into the air, and landed on her back.
Reigning World Cup slalom champion Zrinka Ljutic and Olympic silver medalist Katharina Liensberger, the following two competitors, were disqualified midway down the course.
This marks the third consecutive slalom that Ljutic has not completed.
Final Standings
Katharina Truppe of Austria placed fourth and American skier Paula Moltzan moved up from ninth to fifth with the quickest second run of the race.
An Iconic Career of Achievements
This win represented Shiffrin's sixty-eighth World Cup slalom victory. Her Games accolades include gold in slalom at the 2014 Sochi Olympics and the giant slalom gold four years later at the Pyeongchang Games. She did not reach the podium at the 2022 Beijing Games.
The upcoming winter Olympics' women’s Alpine skiing events will be held in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy – a venue where Shiffrin won four medals in her four events at the 2021 world championships.