The World Alpine Championships only ended last Sunday in Are (SWE), but the top technical skiers were back in action on Tuesday in Stockholm for an evening City Event.
These are shortened, one-on-one, elimination Slalom races and after making history by winning her fourth World Slalom title in a row, American Mikaela Shiffrin made more history. Her victory tied her with Swiss star Vreni Schneider for the most World Cup wins in a single season with 14.
Shiffrin dominated her first two face-offs, sweeping past Ragnhild Mowinckel (NOR) and Katharina Truppe (AUT) with four straight wins. But her semifinal with Anna Swenn Larsson (SWE) was a struggle.
Swenn Larsson won the first race, with Shiffrin 0.09 seconds behind. The second race was even closer, with Shiffrin winning by 0.01 seconds, and the scoring total had Shiffrin advancing by 37.02 to 37.03. Whew!
In the final, Shiffrin won both races against Germany’s Christina Geiger and took the title by a final score of 37.11 to 37.38.
Both Schneider and Shiffrin are technical skiers, more proficient in the Giant Slalom and Slalom than the Downhill or Super-G. Comparing their record seasons:
● 1988-89: Schneider won 14 races: 7 Slalom, 6 Giant Slalom, 1 Combined
● 2018-19: Shiffrin has 14 wins: 4 Super-G, 2 Giant Slalom, 8 Slalom
There’s little doubt that Shiffrin will set the record, as there are two races each in Super-G, Giant Slalom and Slalom remaining on the World Cup schedule. How high does she want to set the bar?
In the men’s event, Swiss Ramon Zenhaeusen won his second career World Cup gold by defending his 2018 Stockholm City Event title. He was impressive, first defeating Austria’s Manuel Feller, the 2017 Worlds Slalom silver medalist, in the round of 16, then eliminated Austrian superstar Marcel Hirscher in the quarterfinals.
Zenhaeusern had no trouble with Swiss teammate Daniel Yule in the semis and then breezed past home favorite Andre Myhrer in the final, as the Swede did not finish either race. Summaries:
FIS Alpine World Cup
Stockholm (SWE) ~ 19 February 2019
(Full results here)
Men’s City Event/ Big Final: 1. Ramon Zenhaeusern (SUI), 35.10; 2. Andre Myhrer (SWE), did not finish; Small Final: 3. Marco Schwarz (AUT), 35.17; 4. Daniel Yule (SUI), did not finish.
Women’s City Event/ Big Final: 1. Mikaela Shiffrin (USA), 37.11; 2. Christin Geiger (GER), 37.38; Small Final: 3. Anna Swenn Larsson (SWE), 37.72; 4. Frida Hansdotter (SWE), did not finish.