The amazing Mikaela Shiffrin dominated the FIS Giant Slalom race in Kronplatz (ITA) and cruised to an impressive 1.21 seconds over a world-class field.
“This is maybe the most difficult slope that we ski on the women’s side,” Shiffrin said of the Erta Trail. “It’s super cool for us to come here because it’s pushing the limits and showing that we can do this technical kind of skiing. For me, it was nice today because I didn’t have good results here last year, or the year before, so it was a bit of redemption on this track.”
She flew down the mountain on the first run, finishing in 1:01.95, more than a second faster than second-place Tessa Worley of France, the 2016-17 World Cup Giant Slalom champ.
“The second run with the lead, I was trying to ski it as if I didn’t have a lead,” said Shiffrin. “The surface was perfect today and it was really good to be aggressive. It’s an amazing trail and I really wanted to get to the finish, but do it the right way, so I’m really happy.”
Worley won the second run from Shiffrin, 1:02.62-1:02.80, but the American’s combined time of 2:04.75 was 1.21 seconds faster than Worley’s 2:05.96. Italy’s Marta Bassino thrilled the home fans with a third-place finish.
The win placed Shiffrin further into the overall World Cup lead (1,394-898 over Petra Vlhova/SVK, who was fourth), and put her into the lead in the seasonal Giant Slalom standings, with a tight 355-345 lead over Worley. She already leads the Slalom category. It was her first race in a week, after six in 18 days, so the rest did her good.
Shiffrin’s season continues to border on the inhuman. She has now won 10 of the 19 races on the women’s World Cup this season, and has 53 World Cup career wins. This was her eighth in the Giant Slalom.
More: With her 10th win of the season, Shiffrin has now won 10 or more races in each of the last three seasons; only all-time World Cup wins leader Ingemar Stenmark (SWE) has done it four times, and Hermann Maier (AUT) has done it three times. Lindsey Vonn (USA) and Annemarie Moser-Proell (AUT) has done it twice. Summaries:
FIS Alpine World Cup
Kronplatz (ITA) ~ 15 January 2019
(Full results here)
Women’s Giant Slalom: 1. Mikaela Shiffrin (USA), 2:04.75; 2. Tessa Worley (FRA), 2:05.96; 3. Marta Bassino (ITA), 2:06.32; 4. Petra Vlhova (SVK), 2:06.81; 5. Viktoria Rebensburg (GER), 2:07.06. Also: 26. Nina O’Brien (USA), 2:10.04.
