Liensberger wins Åre slalom; Vlhová, Shiffrin both miss podium

ÅRE, Sweden (AP) — Mikaela Shiffrin and Petra Vlhová are set for a nerve-wrecking duel for the overall title at the World Cup Finals next week after both missed the podium in the penultimate slalom Saturday.

The American will take a 56-point lead over the defending champion from Slovakia into the finals, which features one race in each of the four disciplines.

Shiffrin, who is chasing her fourth overall title, came into the weekend with an advantage of 117 points, but already lost 40 of it on Friday when she finished third in a giant slalom won by Vlhová.

On Saturday, Vlhová was second after the opening run but dropped to fourth, while Shiffrin lost five positions in the final run and finished ninth in the race won by Katharina Liensberger of Austria.

Ninth was Shiffrin’s worst result in a World Cup slalom since October 2014, apart from three DNFs in this period.

Paula Moltzan finished in 11th, only separated from Shiffrin by Andreja Slokar.

It was the first World Cup slalom in more than six years in which neither Shiffrin nor Vlhová was on the podium. The 53-race run started after a night event in Flachau, Austria, on January 12, 2016, when Vlhová finished sixth while Shiffrin was out nursing a knee injury.

Vlhová had won five of the previous seven slaloms this season and had already locked up the slalom title; Shiffrin won the other two events.

Mina Fürst Holtmann was 0.16 seconds behind in second for her third career podium but first in slalom. Michelle Gisin improved from sixth to place third, trailing Liensberger by 0.23.

Gisin’s Swiss teammate Wendy Holdener skipped the race, a day after crashing in a giant slalom.

Liensberger won her first race since ending last season with back-to-back slalom victories, which earned her the discipline title, just weeks after she also upset Vlhová and Shiffrin to take gold at the world championships in Italy.

“I’m feeling so happy because I really did it. And it wasn’t easy today, I really had to give it all and push from the first gate until the finish,” Liensberger said.

Lena Dürr was fastest in the opening run, leading a tight group of six skiers that also included Vlhová and Shiffrin. But the German posted only the 22nd-fastest time in the final run and finished in fifth, 0.34 seconds behind Liensberger.

Dürr was aiming to become the first German winner of a women’s slalom in nearly 10 years, after Maria Höfl-Riesch triumphed in Levi in November 2012.

Dürr also led the Olympic slalom race in Beijing after the first run but missed a medal after dropping to fourth.

Anna Swenn Larsson of Sweden was third after the opening run but failed to finish the second run of her home race in Sweden.

RESULTS

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