The great Mikaela Shiffrin has improved dramatically in her performances in the Downhill, Super-G and Giant Slalom, which have helped her win the overall World Cup title the past two years. But the foundation of her success is the Slalom.
She won again on Sunday at Killington, Vermont, winning the Slalom there for the second straight year for her 45th career World Cup win and her 65th World Cup medal. Of those, an astonishing 34 wins and 42 medals have come in her favorite race.
The course in Killington was difficult and the visibility was poor, but Shiffrin led the first run with a 0.29 edge over Bernadette Schild (AUT) and increased it with the second-best second run in the field to win by 0.57 over Petra Vlhova (SVK), with Schild ending up fourth.
A big crowd of 15,000 roared for the home favorite, and Shiffrin was well aware. “You guys, I could hear you from the start,” she told the crowd over the public address system. “That was the most unbelievable thing I’ve ever experienced, so thank you.”
Italy’s Federica Brignone skied consistently to win Saturday’s Giant Slalom, in front of an even bigger crowd of 18,500. She had the second-best run in each race to win by almost half a second over Norway’s Ragnhild Mowinckel. Shiffrin was only sixth after the first run, but improved to fifth on the second run to finish fourth overall. Summaries:
FIS Alpine World Cup
Killington, Vermont (USA) ~ 24-25 November 2018
(Full results here)
Women’s Giant Slalom: 1. Federica Brignone (ITA), 1:51.33; 2. Ranghild Mowinckel (NOR), 1:51.82; 3. Stephanie Brunner (AUT), 1:52.11; 4. Mikaela Shiffrin (USA), 1:52.32; 5. Tessa Worley (FRA), 1:52.34.
Women’s Slalom: 1. Shiffrin (USA), 1:43.25; 2. Petra Vlhova (SVK), 1:43.82; 3. Frida Hansdotter (SWE), 1:44.33; 4. Bernadette Schild (AUT), 1:44.66; 5. Michelle Gisin (SUI), 1:45.18. Also: 17. Paula Moltzan (USA), 1:48.14; … 23. Nina O’Brien (USA), 1:49.05.
