41 Slalom Wins!!

[jbotti]

Shiffrin won in Levi and claimed her 41st slalom victory, breaking Stenmark's previous record at 40. Time between the winner and the 10th place finisher was 3.73 seconds which is an eternity in ski racing.

Shiffrin Breaks First Record of the Season in Levi, Finland
Mikaela Shiffrin smoked the field in the 2019/20 slalom season opener in Levi, Finland, winning the race by 1.78 seconds over Switzerland’s Wendy Holdener. Going into the second run, Shiffrin and Slovakia’s Petra Vlhova had been neck and neck, but a big mistake made by Vlohva at the top of the course prevented her from finishing her second run, and the win went to Shiffrin without much contest.

For Shiffrin, this means that she has officially broken Ingemar Stenmark’s World Cup record for most slalom wins, bringing her slalom win total up to 41 at the age of 24. Shiffrin has won four times in Levi alone, meaning her reindeer collection (the traditional prize awarded in Levi) shall grow as well.

Austria’s Katharina Truppe, who finished Saturday’s race in third, earned her first career World Cup podium. Norway’s Nina Haver-Loeseth also had a strong start to the season, finishing in the top five in her first race back from a serious knee injury after crashing in Semmering early last season.

The United State’s Paula Moltzan saved herself from a few costly mistakes made in the first run, and completed the race in 20th overall, scoring her first World Cup points of the season. Unfortunately, Nina O’Brien hip-checked and skied out during her first run, and although she was able to finish, she did not qualify for a second run.

Stayed tuned for full race coverage.

Top 10
Mikaela Shiffrin (USA): 1:57.57
Wendy Holdener (SUI): +1.78
Katharina Truppe (AUT): +1.94
Anna Swenn Larsson (SWE): +2.41
Nina Haver-Loeseth (NOR): +2.51
Michelle Gisin (SUI): +3.17
Katharina Liensberger (AUT): +3.24
Katharina Huber (AUT): +3.40
Martina Dubovska (CZE): +3.67
Lena Duerr (GER): +3.73
For full race results, please click here.

[ErikCO]

For slalom that's a pretty wide spread of finishing times, isn't it? Seems like most of the time when I look at finishing times, the top 3-4 are within a few tenths of a second of each other.

I can watch it online but haven't gotten a chance to yet. Am looking forward to doing so.

[gaku]

Speaking from a Norwegian perspective, it's good to have Nina back, she'll finally have good competition with the rest of the girls coming through our national ranks. Mina impresses in GS and the easier sections of today's slalom race, but surprised positively in the steep sections too. Even if she had a couple of imbalances in the steep, where her feet pullback could have been more disciplined, she still carried speed, signalling things to come. I really like Nina's discipline in CB and feet pullback, but two things that still irks me about her skiing is the way she blocks poles, sometimes unwinding her counter, and her slightly wide stance at times.

Wasn't too impressed by Shiffrin's first run down the steeps, but the second looked much cleaner. Would be impressed if Vlhova kept pace in the second run.

Also, a general impression I was left with was that the Austrian girls had significantly better counter than other nations', but they seemed harder on the edges, maybe tipping more than required.

[go_large_or_go_home]

[jbotti]

Make that 42!!

Dominated at Killington today with Vhlova 2:29 behind her in second. It was really Shiffrin skiing well and everyone else looking pretty bad. Tough hill, boiler plate ice and cold temps.