Shiffrin Wins, Secures Ninth Reindeer In Levi Slalom
On Saturday, Nov. 15 at the Audi FIS World Cup slalom opener, the winningest alpine skier of all time, Mikaela Shiffrin, claimed her 102nd World Cup victory, 65th slalom win and ninth reindeer on the Levi, Finland track. Teammate Paula Moltzan landed just shy of the podium in fourth after an impressive second run jump.
If the young guns of the women's World Cup tour thought a reindeer was up for grabs in Levi on Saturday, the Queen of Slalom had other ideas.
In the first World Cup Slalom race of the Olympic season, superstar Mikaela Shiffrin (USA/Atomic) dominated from start to finish to win by over a second and a half and continue a remarkable record in the Finnish resort.
The 30-year-old led by over a second after the first run and didn't let up in the afternoon leg, finishing well ahead of Lara Colturi (ALB/Blizzard, +1.66s) and Emma Aicher (GER/Head, +2.59s).
It was Shiffrin's 102nd World Cup victory, her 65th in Slalom and her ninth in Levi, giving her as many reindeer as Santa Claus.
"It's starting to feel more like home," Shiffrin said of her comfort level in Finland. "I really enjoyed being here and I'm so happy to kick off the Slalom season. It was a really amazing day, I felt very good with my skiing. I was at one with my feeling, with my body and my skis."
After suffering a serious puncture wound that kept her out for most of last season, Shiffrin returned to claim her 100th and 101st World Cup wins late in the campaign, and on Saturday she picked up where she left off at the World Cup finals.
"I have trusted the training I did with my team, we did really good work over the summer," she said. "This season for me, it's been really important to start the season with a really good mentality, so I can practice that every race, because last year and the year before I was not racing so much with the injuries. I'm super happy to have two races now (fourth in Sölden and victory in Levi) that I've felt really good."
Since Tina Maze (SLO) won the Levi Slalom in 2014, the last 14 races in Finnish Lapland have all been won by either Shiffrin (eight, with her other victory coming in 2013) or Petra Vlhova (SVK/Rossignol, six). With Vlhova absent on Saturday as she continues her long recovery from injury, Shiffrin was without peer on both runs.
The USA star led by 1.08 seconds after the first run, using controlled aggression to record the fastest time in three of the four sectors of the course, with only Colturi and Lena Duerr (GER/Head) finishing within a second and a half of Shiffrin's leading time.
Colturi threw down the gauntlet in the second run, skiing sensationally to take the lead by nearly a second with only Shiffrin left at the top of the mountain.
But the American didn't flinch, staying aggressive throughout her second run despite her big cushion to not only hold off her young challenger, but extend the margin with the fastest second run of the field.
"Mikaela put on an absolute clinic on how to ski Levi - she continues to impress everyone with her skiing," said Moltzan.
Of the next generation behind Shiffrin, Colturi, on her 19th birthday, and Aicher, 22, shone brightest.
Both came from outside the top seeded skiers to reach their fourth World Cup podiums after notching their first three in breakout seasons a year ago.
"It's an amazing day," Colturi said. "I was feeling so great in training and finally I put these feelings on a race day and I'm so happy and so proud about that.
As she continues to chase what would be Albania's first World Cup win, Colturi, who grew up in Italy, fell short but claimed her equal career-best World Cup finish of second, and surprised even herself.
"In training I was going really good, but not like that," she said. "I wasn't sure that I was doing a podium in the first (Slalom) race. But I said, 'Just live the moment.'"
Her performance was not lost on Shiffrin, suddenly the elder stateswoman among a host of rising stars on the tour. "I think she (Colturi) has every possibility in the world, to be better, to push the sport. She's already here, pushing the level," Shiffrin said. "It's pretty cool for me to have been part of the previous generation of the greatest skiers and now to be part of this generation as well. It's amazing to see her focus, she's so mature."
For Aicher, it was her first podium in Slalom after three top-three finishes in speed events last season.
"I didn't think it was going to happen today, but I'm really happy it did," she said after moving up from seventh after the first run. "I didn't really think about my position (in the second run). I just wanted to ski good and push, and I think I managed to do that better in the second run."
With her second-run charge, Aicher pushed her veteran teammate Duerr out of the leader's chair and ultimately off the podium, 0.15 seconds behind.
The next women’s slalom will be in Gurgl in just over a week. On Sunday, Nov. 16, the men will take on the Levi slalom track.
