95th World Cup Win For Shiffrin
'It was not easy': Shiffrin storms home to win 95th World Cup race. Just when Croatian teenager Zrinka Ljutic (CRO) seemed on the verge of her first World Cup victory, Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) righted the ship and claimed her 95th.
U.S. Alpine Ski Team athlete Mikaela Shiffrin earned her 82nd slalom win, 95th World Cup victory and 150th World Cup podium on Sunday, Jan. 21, in Jasna, Slovakia, further solidifying her dominance in the discipline standings and the race for the overall World Cup Crystal Globe.
However, something, or rather someone, was missing in the battle for the slalom win today and her absence did not go unnoticed by Shiffrin. Slovakia's own Petra Vlhova, who sustained an ACL injury in Saturday's giant slalom, was not there to push Shiffrin to her absolute limit. The absence felt even more significant in front of Vlhova's home crowd.
Yet the Slovakian fans continued to cheer loudly and proudly for Shiffrin and the rest of the women's field. This did not go unnoticed by the slalom champion, who acknowledged and thanked the crowd for sticking around to celebrate the sport and its competitors, even without their country's top athlete to root for.
"It's pretty amazing to race for this crowd; it gives me feelings like Killington, which is quite special," said Shiffrin
The American star barely won the Jasna slalom on Sunday, almost losing her lead before powering home to win by 0.14 seconds and consign rising star Ljutic to runner-up, still her best World Cup finish.
"Today it was definitely a big push to keep all my energy going all the way through the second run," said Shiffrin, whose lead shrunk to 0.02 seconds on the last intermediate split before she skied the fastest final sector of anyone in the field to ensure victory.
"I knew she (Ljutic) put down an amazing run and I had to push," Shiffrin added.
Although Ljutic came up just short, she made a World Cup podium for only the second time. By contrast, Shiffrin became the second Alpine skier to reach 150 World Cup podiums, five short of Ingemar Stenmark's (SWE) record of 155, and she also surpassed Stenmark with her record-setting 82nd slalom podium.
Anna Swenn Larsson (SWE, +0.81s) joined Shiffrin and Ljutic on the podium, skiing the second-fastest second run to move up two spots from fifth and put pressure on the final skiers, while Camille Rast (SUI) was the fastest of all in the second run and missed what would have been her first individual World Cup podium by just 0.09 seconds.
"It was not easy on the second run," conceded Shiffrin, who managed only the seventh-fastest time. "I could hear the crowd going crazy for a couple of athletes and I'm like, 'No, this race is very far away from over and I need to push.'
"I didn't feel perfect but I felt good, so I'm super happy with it."
Earlier, it seemed as though Shiffrin's 58th World Cup slalom victory would be a fait accompli in the absence of injured rival Petra Vlhova (SVK), as the American led the other top seeds by well over a second in the first run until Ljutic skied to within 0.52 seconds of the lead with bib No. 17.
The 19-year-old Croatian then showed maturity beyond her years to ski a fearless second run, taking a big lead over Swenn Larsson and throwing down the gauntlet to Shiffrin.
"I'm really happy that I skied even better in the second run than the first," Ljutic said. "I'm proud of myself for managing this pressure in the second run."
And although Shiffrin ended up denying her on this occasion, Ljutic can now see a path towards her first victory.
"I think I took a glimpse of what it's like to be so close to the win," she said. "It was really tight and it's definitely worth it, it's worth every DNF (four) that I've had this season."
One thing seems certain: Ljutic likely won't have to wait as long for her maiden triumph as Swenn Larsson, who did it at age 31 last season when she claimed her first win in a traditional discipline, sharing victory with Wendy Holdener (SUI) in Killington.
And although the Swede couldn't duplicate the feat on Sunday, she is finally building into the season with three top-five finishes in the last four slalom races, after starting the campaign with a best result of 15th in the first four contests.
"I struggled a lot this season, especially the first races," Swenn Larsson said. "I had some problems with my body and now everything just feels really well — mind and body. I'm feeling really strong again."
As is Shiffrin, who now heads to Cortina d'Ampezzo in the Italian Dolomites for a speed weekend as the season, and her assault on skiing history, marches on.
"It's not really rest, but a different pace, so I'm looking forward to it," she said.
U.S. Ski Team athletes Paula Moltzan, AJ Hurt and Lila Lapanja all qualified for the second run with varying results. Moltzan finished the race 18th overall, while Lapanja finished 27th, scoring her first World Cup points in three years after a difficult second run. Hurt came into the last pitch with some serious speed but was unable to hang on to her edge and slid out of the course. Fortunately, she is okay.
