Shiffrin Claims Historic Slalom Title With Dominant Czech Performance. It's January 25th !!
Mikaela Shiffrin was in a league of her own on Sunday, claiming her record-breaking ninth World Cup slalom title with a commanding victory at the Czech resort where her remarkable journey began fifteen years ago.
The 30-year-old American dominated from start to finish at Špindlerův Mlýn, winning both runs to finish with a combined time of 1 minute, 37.59 seconds—a staggering 1.67 seconds ahead of Switzerland's Camille Rast in second place. Germany's Emma Aicher rounded out the podium, more than two seconds behind the champion.
The margin of victory marked Shiffrin's most dominant performance of the season and underscored why she enters next month's Milano Cortina Olympics as the overwhelming favorite for slalom gold.
"It just feels amazing to be here," Shiffrin said in her post-race interview. "I feel like when I was 15 years old still."
The emotional connection to the venue runs deep for Shiffrin. It was on this very slope in March 2011 that she competed in her first-ever World Cup event as a teenage prodigy. Now, with 297 World Cup starts behind her, she has accumulated 108 career victories—22 more than Swedish legend Ingemar Stenmark, who sits second on the all-time list.
Sunday's win was her 71st in slalom alone, extending her own record in the discipline. She has now won seven of eight slalom races this season, with her only defeat coming at the hands of Rast in Slovenia three weeks ago.
With the ninth slalom crystal globe—the award given to each season's discipline champion—Shiffrin moved one ahead of both compatriot Lindsey Vonn, who earned eight downhill titles, and Stenmark, who won eight slalom globes. No skier in the six-decade history of the World Cup, male or female, has ever won nine titles in a single discipline.
The victory clinched the season title with two races still remaining after the Olympics. Shiffrin holds an unassailable 288-point lead over Rast in the slalom standings and also leads the overall World Cup rankings by 170 points.
Sunday's performance was vintage Shiffrin. She built a massive 1.26-second advantage after the first run, then attacked the second run with the same intensity, refusing to simply manage her lead. She posted the fastest time in both runs, maintaining her tight racing line as she flowed seamlessly from gate to gate.
Shiffrin skied first, and bib one put down an impossible marker – a trademark performance full of aggressive turns.
“I felt really good on the first run, it was good skiing,” she said. “A little bit of risk, which was exciting. There’s one combination which is tricky visually.”
She is a big fan of the Czech resort. “Sometimes it’s just a feeling you get in a place, it feels comfortable, you can kind of relax a little bit. It is a very well organised event. The hospitality is comfortable, there is really good food, it’s one less thing to think about, and of course my first World cup [was here, aged 15] so it’s nostalgic. It’s such a great crowd, a pleasure to race here.”
She really just had to stay upright on run two to secure first place, which she duly did. Shiffrin was so focused, that ninth career Audi FIS Crystal Globe was barely on her mind.
“Actually no, I don’t have so many words right now, this whole day I was not really thinking about the Globe,” she said. “I knew coming to this race that It could be possible, but there were so many things to focus on, the hill, the training, going a bit earlier today than yesterday – it was a very early morning.”
How does she explain the gulf between her and the rest of the field?
“This gap isn’t there every race,” she said. “Every race is a little bit different, the first run for me was maybe an advantage to go bib one, because I didn’t know how the surface was going to feel. I didn’t have expectations and I kind of just skied as hard as I could. By the time I could make a judgement on the hill I was in the finish. Then everyone could see there was some trickiness to handle, and sometimes that can be trickier. So it’s a big push every single race. Big mentality. I’m happy with the day, and also yesterday, a good weekend.”
Shiffrin also admitted although she currently looks indestructible, it doesn’t always feel that way inside.
“The combination on the second run today – I was a little bit concerned I was going to mess it up," she said. "It’s wonderful to be consistent and fast, but every time I ski, I feel like I could be flying off the course at any moment. So it takes a lot of effort and intensity and focus. It’s always very exciting when I’m in the finish.”
The victory came just one day after Shiffrin returned to the giant slalom podium for the first time in two years, finishing third behind Sara Hector and teammate Paula Moltzan at the same venue. That performance, combined with Sunday's slalom dominance, signals that Shiffrin has hit peak form at precisely the right moment.
Four years ago in Beijing, Shiffrin endured a devastating Olympics, crashing out of three events—including her signature slalom—and missing the podium in the others. Her best finish was fourth in the mixed team event. This time, she says she plans to focus on her strongest disciplines rather than competing across the entire alpine program.
If her current form holds, Shiffrin will head to Cortina d'Ampezzo as the clear favorite to add to her two Olympic gold medals. Five of her seven slalom victories this season have come by margins exceeding one full second—the kind of dominance rarely seen at the sport's highest level.
"It's actually hard to think about that today because there was so much to think about on the race course," Shiffrin said of clinching the crystal globe. "So now it's like a nice surprise."
As skiing royalty, Shiffrin continues to reign majestically over her sport, rewriting the record books with each passing race. With the Milano Cortina Olympics on the horizon, the American superstar appears poised to add another golden chapter to her already legendary career.
