Mikaela Shiffrin continued her slalom dominance with a record 103rd Alpine Ski World Cup victory in the Austrian resort of Gurgl on Sunday.
Shiffrin is Team USA's big gold medal hope at February's Winter Olympics, and the 30-year-old made it two for two on the season in the slalom with another impressively aggressive performance. She also won last season's slalom final, giving her three straight World Cup wins.
Lara Colturi, a 19-year-old skier who competes for Albania but is the Italian-born daughter of Italian 2002 Olympic super-G champion Daniela Ceccarelli, finished second, with Switzerland's reigning world champion Camilla Rast third.
The top two remained the same as in the season. slalom opening in Levi, Finland: Shiffrin was 0.31 seconds faster than Colturi in the first stage and extended her lead to 1.23 at the finish after also posting faster speed in the second run. The podium was also exactly the same as the top three in the slalom at Gurgle last year, with Shiffrin celebrating her 99th win.
“I had to push as hard as I could, but it was really nice to have my second run in the sun,” said Shiffrin, whose overall tally now stands at a record 66 World Cup slalom victories. “Last year, I remember it was so dark, so it was a really nice surprise. It was almost what I expected. It's not easy, but I knew others were insisting, so there's no choice, you have to go.”
The race was Colturi's 60th at the World Championships and she was surprised with her first consecutive podium finish.
“The snow was very soft, and when I saw it, I looked at it for the first time and thought, 'Ah, maybe today is not my day,'” she said.
Croatia's Zrinka Ljutic, who won the slalom crystal globe last season, swept the gates in the second run, while Austria's Katharina Liensberger, a silver medalist at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, failed to finish the first run.
The next women's technical track race is in Copper Mountain, Colorado, at the end of the month, and Shiffrin was looking forward to spending time at home.
“I need to get some [giant slalom] I'm training again and I'm really excited to go to Copper. For the first time this season, I’m staying in my bed,” she said.
