Alpine

Shiffrin Crushes Competition in Slovakia

by
USSA
2016-03-06 07:51
 

JASNA, Slovakia (March 6, 2016) – Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, CO) absolutely crushed the competition Sunday, winning her 18th career Audi FIS Ski World Cup slalom. Shiffrin’s winning time was 2.36 second ahead of Switzerland’s Wendy Holdener in second. Home crowd favorite Veronika Velez Zuzulova was third.

Run 1

Mikaela Shiffrin cruises to a first-run win during Sunday’s slalom in Slovakia. (Getty/AFP-Joe Klamar)

Since her comeback from a left knee injury sustained in December, Shiffrin has won back-to-back slaloms. In Sunday’s first run, she won by 1.67 seconds, despite claiming that her timing was still a bit off due to her eight-week absence from competition.

“I just like to try to improve on what I did in the first run for the second run,” she said. “So if I win the first run, I want to win again in the second run. So today, just building on my lead was pretty great.”

Shiffrin has won four World Cup slalom events this season. Sweden’s Frida Hansdotter, who finished 10th Sunday – her lowest slalom result in more than two years – won the overall World Cup slalom title with just one race remaining at the World Cup Finals in St. Moritz, Switzerland in two weeks.

“Frida has been just as consistent as I have been, or even more consistent in the past three, four years,” Shiffrin said of the Swedish racer who won the World Cup slalom in Lienz, and has been on the podium six times this season. “She has walked away with however many second places, but you have to be really consistent just to get on the podium. But she deserves to win the globe.”

Resi Stiegler (Jackson, WY) finished 24th Sunday. Lila Lapanja (Incline Village, NV) did not finish the first run.

The victory was Shiffrin’s 19th career World Cup victory (18 slalom and one giant slalom – Soelden 2014). Shiffrin, who turns 21 next week, is scheduled to compete in Monday’s giant slalom, which was postponed Saturday due to high winds. Stiegler and Megan McJames (Park City, UT) are also scheduled to compete Monday.

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Mikaela Shiffrin won her 19th career World Cup race Sunday (18 slalom and one giant slalom).
  • Sweden’s Frida Hansdotter, who finished 10th Sunday, won the overall World Cup slalom title with one race remaining.

 

QUOTES

Mikaela Shiffrin
Both runs I just I tried to pretend a bear was chasing me - just go faster. It worked really well. It was a rough course but the course workers did a great job in keeping it to together.

I just like to try to improve on what I did in the first run for the second run. So if I won the first run, I want to win again in the second run. So today, just building on my lead was pretty great.

[On the course conditions] It was a little bit rough … and to be able to execute my plans based in the conditions makes me feel more and more confident.

[On training in Jasna for the past week] It has been tough training ... the training hill has been soft some days. So it’s been a bit of trouble training. But I found some freeskiing trails and went out and made some turns, did some drills, so I’m feeling quite a bit better.

Frida has been just as consistent as I have been, or even more consistent in the past three, four years. She has walked away with however many second places, but you have to be really consistent just to get on the podium. But she deserves to win the globe.

Broadcast and Live Streaming (times EST)

Sunday, March 6
1:00 p.m. - Women's SL, Jasna - Universal HD

Monday, March 7
4:00 a.m. - Women's GS-1, Jasna - LIVE - NBC Sports Live Extra
7:00 a.m. - Women's GS-2, Jasna - LIVE - NBC Sports Live Extra

RESULTS
Women’s slalom

 

 


 


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