Shiffrin Wraps Up Slalom Season With Seventh Win
Back in December 2012, a 17-year-old Mikaela Shiffrin won her first World Cup slalom race, beating Tina Maze of Slovenia and Frida Hansdotter of Sweden in Are, Sweden. Flash forward to March 2018, and not much has changed. The American won the final slalom race of this season at that same resort, a whopping 1.58 seconds ahead of the field. Switzerland’s Wendy Holdener skied to second place with a time of 1:48.00 while Hansdotter ended the day in third place with a time of 1:48.01.
Along with the win, Shiffrin was finally able to hold her fifth slalom globe in her hands, which she secured in Ofterschwang, Germany, earlier this month.
Mikaela Shiffrin kisses her slalom globe in Are, Sweden. // Image credit: GEPA / Andreas Pranter
“I mean it’s incredible,” Shiffrin said. “The slalom has always been really close to my heart, so to have the globe again this year and to finish with a run like that was super special.”
This was Shiffrin’s most successful slalom season in terms of total wins. With seven victories, a city event and parallel event win, one second place result and one DNF, she led the slalom standings with 980 points. The closest athlete was Holdener, who wrapped up the season with 705 slalom points and no victories. Hansdotter earned seven slalom podium results in nine races, totaling 681 points and putting her third in the discipline, while Slovakia’s Petra Vlhova, the only woman other than Shiffrin to win a slalom race this season, ended the season in fourth. The American maintained the lead while the others duked it out for second and third place, but that didn’t mean Shiffrin ever felt comfortable in her signature event.
“It’s always difficult,” Shiffrin said after the final race. “There’s always so many challenges during the season and throughout the year, all the girls kept picking up the pace, and I felt like I had to step back from speed in order to stay on top. It’s just so nice to be at this time in the season and feel like I still put out some of my best skiing.”
The American hopes to carry that momentum into Sunday’s giant slalom and the final World Cup race of the entire season.
“I’ll get the second overall globe tomorrow,” Shiffrin said. “That’s really, really cool and like the biggest thing for me now is to enjoy tomorrow as well because I really enjoyed the race today, and I didn’t expect to feel that way at this time in the season. I didn’t feel tired today and I hope that I can bring the same kind of focus and energy into tomorrow and finish the season strong.”
As of Saturday’s race, Shiffrin has already won the overall globe and currently boasts 1,773 points. Holdener sits comfortably in second place with 1,168 points while Germany’s Viktoria Rebensburg currently holds the third position with 977 points though Italy’s Sofia Goggia is close behind in fourth with 958 points and could move ahead in the giant slalom.
Women’s racing action begins at 9:45 am CET.
Top 10
- Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) – Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
- Wendy Holdener (SUI) – Head / Head / Head
- Frida Hansdotter (SWE) – Rossignol / Look / Rossignol
- Nina Haver-Loeseth (NOR) – Rossignol / Look / Rossignol
- Bernadette Schild (AUT) – Head / Head / Head
- Michelle Gisin (SUI) – Rossignol / Look / Rossignol
- Katharina Gallhuber (AUT) – Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
- Katharina Liensberger (AUT) – Rossignol / Look / Rossignol
- Anna Swenn Larsson (SWE) – Head / Head / Head
- Erin Mielzynski (CAN) – Rossignol / Look / Rossignol
Official Results
| Rank | Bib | FIS Code | Name | Year | Nation | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total Time | Diff. | FIS Points | WC Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | 6535237 | SHIFFRIN Mikaela | 1995 | USA | 52.09 | 54.33 | 1:46.42 | 0.00 | 100 | |
| 2 | 1 | 516280 | HOLDENER Wendy | 1993 | SUI | 52.81 | 55.19 | 1:48.00 | +1.58 | 10.69 | 80 |
| 3 | 7 | 505679 | HANSDOTTER Frida | 1985 | SWE | 52.93 | 55.08 | 1:48.01 | +1.59 | 10.76 | 60 |
| 4 | 2 | 425771 | HAVER-LOESETH Nina | 1989 | NOR | 53.15 | 54.99 | 1:48.14 | +1.72 | 11.64 | 50 |
| 5 | 5 | 56032 | SCHILD Bernadette | 1990 | AUT | 52.58 | 55.63 | 1:48.21 | +1.79 | 12.11 | 45 |
| 6 | 12 | 516284 | GISIN Michelle | 1993 | SUI | 53.21 | 55.20 | 1:48.41 | +1.99 | 13.46 | 40 |
| 7 | 3 | 56367 | GALLHUBER Katharina | 1997 | AUT | 52.78 | 55.69 | 1:48.47 | +2.05 | 13.87 | 36 |
| 8 | 17 | 56388 | LIENSBERGER Katharina | 1997 | AUT | 53.63 | 54.94 | 1:48.57 | +2.15 | 14.55 | 32 |
| 9 | 9 | 506146 | SWENN LARSSON Anna | 1991 | SWE | 53.30 | 55.31 | 1:48.61 | +2.19 | 14.82 | 29 |
| 10 | 16 | 106961 | MIELZYNSKI Erin | 1990 | CAN | 53.50 | 55.12 | 1:48.62 | +2.20 | 14.88 | 26 |
| 11 | 4 | 705423 | VLHOVA Petra | 1995 | SVK | 52.64 | 56.42 | 1:49.06 | +2.64 | 17.86 | 24 |
| 12 | 10 | 515997 | FEIERABEND Denise | 1989 | SUI | 53.79 | 55.57 | 1:49.36 | +2.94 | 19.89 | 22 |
| 13 | 19 | 197616 | ALPHAND Estelle | 1995 | SWE | 53.96 | 55.71 | 1:49.67 | +3.25 | 21.99 | 20 |
| 14 | 14 | 56315 | TRUPPE Katharina | 1996 | AUT | 54.29 | 55.47 | 1:49.76 | +3.34 | 22.60 | 18 |
| 15 | 20 | 565401 | BUCIK Ana | 1993 | SLO | 54.58 | 55.75 | 1:50.33 | +3.91 | 26.45 | 16 |
| 16 | 21 | 55977 | THALMANN Carmen | 1989 | AUT | 55.39 | 55.30 | 1:50.69 | +4.27 | 28.89 | 0 |
| 17 | 24 | 565471 | HROVAT Meta | 1998 | SLO | 54.66 | 56.09 | 1:50.75 | +4.33 | 29.30 | 0 |
| 18 | 13 | 206355 | DUERR Lena | 1991 | GER | 54.46 | 56.50 | 1:50.96 | +4.54 | 30.72 | 0 |
| 19 | 11 | 296509 | CURTONI Irene | 1985 | ITA | 55.31 | 55.75 | 1:51.06 | +4.64 | 31.39 | 0 |
| 20 | 18 | 425981 | SKJOELD Maren | 1993 | NOR | 54.94 | 56.24 | 1:51.18 | +4.76 | 32.20 | 0 |
| 21 | 22 | 565320 | FERK Marusa | 1988 | SLO | 55.34 | 56.59 | 1:51.93 | +5.51 | 37.28 | 0 |
| 22 | 23 | 297601 | BRIGNONE Federica | 1990 | ITA | 55.32 | 56.68 | 1:52.00 | +5.58 | 37.75 | 0 |
| Did not finish 1st run | |||||||||||
| 15 | 206536 | WALLNER Marina | 1994 | GER | 0 | ||||||
| 8 | 296354 | COSTAZZA Chiara | 1984 | ITA | 0 | ||||||
About the Author: Gabbi Hall
