Shiffrin leads run 1 of Spindleruv Myln slalom

Shiffrin. Photo: GEPA pictures.

SPINDLERUV MLYN, Czech Republic — American skier Mikaela Shiffrin posted the fastest time in the opening run of Saturday’s women’s World Cup slalom, positioning herself for her 85th career victory.

The skies were overcast in Spindleruv Myln and the crowd is significant—the Czech Republic showed up loud and proud to support the first run. The slope has a short pitch from the start and requires an athlete to carry velocity into the flat. Athletes are challenged to have clean edge sets to be fast, one of the many Shiffrin strengths.

The energy of Shiffrin’s precise top of the turn is rewarded with considerable acceleration. Her weight transfers are complete and her timing is confident. Shiffrin’s platform to push from is solid. She has a (-0.29) advantage over Germany’s Lena Duerr going into the second run. Shiffrin also has a (-0.46) advantage over Petra Vlhova.

“In the end, good skiing and I’m happy with that,” Shiffrin said.

When skis are sliding sideways and not cleanly arcing, they create friction. Today, with the long flat, it was essential to ski efficiently. It was clear that many athletes were redirecting their skis at the top of the turn, which robbed the women of momentum.

Shiffrin also gained time on most racers in a tricky hairpin combination halfway through her run, where the course set allowed various ways to pass the gates efficiently.

“You could ski it either way,” Shiffrin said. “I was able to really carry a lot of speed into the end of the course. In the end, I felt very good on my run.”

Today the time spread among the top five is considerable (+1.49). It indicates just how hard it is to ski fast on a flat. USA’s second fastest is the emerging star Paula Moltzan. However, she had difficulty entering the flat and found herself in 11th (+1.84) behind Shiffrin. She is the only other USA athlete to qualify for the final run.

Three other North Americans will participate in the second run. All of them are Canadians. Laurence St Germain (+2.18) in 18th, Ali Nullmeyer (+2.21) in 19th, and Amelia Smart (+2.26) in 20th all comfortably qualified for the final. Notably, USA’s young Zoe Zimmermann missed qualifying by (+0.01)

Two of the first 30 women did not finish and four with bibs higher than 30 qualified. The last to do so was bib 44, Italy’s Anita Gulli, who finished the first run ranked 25th. The time spread among the top 30 is (+2.73). Skiers from 14 nations will compete in the afternoon run.

There are only three likely winners to emerge from the first run. However, Shiffrin is the favorite. Her skiing was undoubtedly the best of the three. But only time will tell.

Analysis of the fastest three, the four other North Americans and the top 31 results

First run top 31 results Spindleruv Mlyn January 28th slalom

The Associated Press contributed to this report.