Vlhova Wins Kranjska Gora Slalom
Petra Vlhova had to fight soft snow, poor visibility and inspired rivals. Petra Vlhova (SVK) proved yet again why she is one of the all-time greats of slalom skiing in Kranjska Gora (SLO) on Sunday.
Facing a soft, heavily rutted course, poor visibility, the burden of expectation from a desperately hungry crowd and the challenge laid down by both red-hot Lena Duerr (GER) and an inspired AJ Hurt (USA), Vlhova somehow dug to the bottom of her wildly talented ski boots and secured her 22nd Audi FIS World Cup slalom win, and the third in-a-row on Slovenia’s famous Podkoren slope.
Fastest in run one and crucially swifter than Duerr in run two, Vlhova secured victory in the end by a comfortable 0.72 seconds from the German.
And, on a day in which teammate Mikaela Shiffrin failed to finish a World Cup slalom for just the eighth time in her career after straddling a gate in run one, Hurt kept American flags flying with the performance of a lifetime to charge from 16th to third – comfortably her best ever World Cup result.
It was a huge day of firsts for 23-year-old AJ Hurt in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, where she earned a hard-fought third-place podium - a career first and personal best.
The odds were stacked against her from the get-go. Course conditions were less than ideal, and the ride to the finish was wild from bib 1. Unfortunately for Hurt, she was slotted to run towards the back of the pack, drawing bib 38. However, she laid down a solid first run, landing herself in 16th going into the second and setting her up for what turned out to be a historic day.
“I thought to myself, 'Well if I came in first, maybe I can get a top 10,'” she recalled. “Then I was sitting in eighth and was like, ‘There’s no way my best slalom is going to beat my best giant slalom' ...and then it did!”
Hurt skied the fastest second run of the day, beating even the likes of Slovakian Petra Vlhova by 0.21. She earned a career-best finish, her first top 20 in slalom, her first top 15 in slalom, her first top 10 in slalom, her first-ever top five, and her first-ever podium.
Stifel U.S. Ski Team teammate Paula Moltzan, also finished strong in fifth, matching her season best finish in slalom thus far, and hanging on to a top 10 ranking in the overall slalom standings. Mikaela Shiffrin, unfortunately straddled in her first run, and didn’t have a chance to ski a second, but was just as excited for Hurt as anyone.
“[Mikaela and Paula] are obviously two of the fastest slalom skiers in the world right now, and it's pretty amazing to be able to ski alongside them," said Shiffrin. "I mean, I train with Paula every day and I feel like I’m always chasing her."
Moltzan, made sure to get the rest of Hurt’s teammates on FaceTime during the awards ceremony so best friend Keely Cashman could be there with her celebrating her success.
“I couldn’t be more proud,” said Moltzan. "I’m a proud mom and big sister and I’m taking it all in.”
“It was tough,” laughed Vlhova whose post-race interviews were almost drowned out by delirious fans who had made the short pilgrimage across the border from Slovakia.
While Vlhova, first out of the gate, had the advantage of a fresh course in the morning, visibility at that stage was so bad she later revealed she’d had to clean her goggles “halfway down”.
It was a similar but even more challenging story by the time she came to her second run. With snow having fallen continuously but temperatures high, the heavily salted course was soft and breaking up, with the steep final pitch catching out skier after skier.
Having seen a flying Duerr finally depose Hurt from the leader’s chair, Vlhova knew there was no room for maneouvre.
“Of course I knew it would be tough from the first gate to the finish. I needed to be ready and I wanted to be ready. I skied well, I skied exactly how I wanted. I pushed as much as I could,” the Slovakian said.
“When I crossed the finish line and saw the green light it was an explosion, because in front of many Slovak people, it’s something different to win. This year it was one of the toughest (runs).”
A 22nd career slalom victory pulls Vlhova into solo fourth on the list of all-time most successful female World Cup slalom skiers. Although perhaps more relevantly for the Slovakian right now, a third victory in six races this season pulls her closer to Shiffrin at the top of the standings. It also extends the duo’s monopoly on the discipline, with one of the two having won the last 10 World Cup races in a row.
Duerr was the last skier other than Vlhova or Shiffrin to triumph on tour and she came so close to matching her win in Spindleruv Mlyn (CZE) in January last year.
“I am super happy. Second run was really tough as expected and I was just happy that the green light was on in the finish. It was a good day even though it was a tough day,” she said, before sharing that she is keen not to ‘jinx’ her superbly consistent form this season.
“I try to not think about it too much,” laughed the German, who has claimed four podium places already. “I try to always be calm and take it easy and just go with the speed I have now. I hope it continues.”
Hurt will be hoping her impressive 2023/24 form continues. The 23-year-old came into the season with a best ever World Cup slalom effort of 29th. But now she has a podium place to go with two top-11 finishes in the giant slalom.
“It feels amazing. It doesn’t really feel real right now, I don’t know what to say. I defiinitely didn’t really expect this,” Hurt said.
Starting the day in bib No.38, Hurt then revealed her overnight prayers had been different to most.
“I feel like maybe everyone else was hoping the snow would freeze but I kind of like the (soft) snow," said Hurt who was comfortably the quickest in the second run. "I knew I could send it and it felt good.”
Experienced teammate Paula Moltzan, reigning Olympic GS champion Sara Hector (SWE) and 2021 slalom world champion Katharina Liensberger (AUT) were among those Hurt flew past in the afternoon.
