Mikaela Shiffrin Broadens Record with 105th World Cup Giant Slalom Win.
The dominance of Mikaela Shiffrin goes beyond simple winning each slalom of the Winter Games season. She’s dominating each race and securing victories by significant gaps as well.
A Night of Record-Extending Skiing
The US ski sensation secured a 105th record-broadening World Cup victory after a number of her primary challengers went out during the opening run of a night race on Tuesday.
Shiffrin increased her first-run lead and ended up over one and a half seconds ahead of Swiss skier Camille Rast and 1.71 ahead of competitor from Germany Emma Aicher.
"She has currently secured the first four slaloms of the season – and five straight including the final race of the previous campaign," noted analysts.
Overwhelming Leads of Victory
All of her margins of victory this season have exceeded a full second – with a trio more than 1.5 seconds: 1.66 in Levi, Finland; 1.23 in Gurgl, Austria; and 1.57 in Copper Mountain, Colorado before her latest performance in the French Alps.
Rivals Face Difficulty
Competitors striving to match Shiffrin ran into difficulty.
- Lena Duerr, the German skier who was third after the first run, skied off the track 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 consecutive slalom podiums.
- Wendy Holdener achieved a seventh-place finish even with a incident at the end of her first run where she encountered a rut, was flipped into the air, and landed on her back.
Defending World Cup slalom champion Zrinka Ljutic and Olympic silver medalist Katharina Liensberger, the following two competitors, went out 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 climbed from ninth to fifth with the quickest second run of the race.
A Legacy of Accomplishments
This win represented Shiffrin's 68th World Cup slalom victory. Her Games accolades include gold in slalom at the 2014 Sochi Olympics and gold in giant slalom four years later at the Pyeongchang Games. She didn’t medal 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 secured four medals in her four events at the 2021 world championships.
