Mikaela Shiffrin continues to show outstanding performance. The American skier triumphed in a significant slalom race on Friday, securing her fourth consecutive World Cup victory. Shiffrin chose to skip the races in Val Gardena to recharge for upcoming events where she excels.
With her 49th career victory, she emerges as a top contender for the championship. Shiffrin now holds the record as the youngest female skier with 49 World Cup wins and is poised to potentially reach the 50-win milestone in Saturday’s slalom event. She exhibits unwavering dominance in her specialty following a commendable fourth-place finish at the Pyeongchang Olympics.
“Today was a great start to the weekend … but I haven’t had much slalom training in the past few days, so I’ll just move my feet quickly and see how it goes,” Shiffrin said with a smile.
Should she win on Saturday, she will tie the record held by Austria’s Marlies Schild for the most World Cup slalom victories at 35.
Last year in Courchevel, she also claimed victory in a significant slalom event. “I enjoy competing in France. It’s becoming more familiar to me,” Shiffrin commented playfully, referencing her connection with French giant slalom specialist Mathieu Faivre.
The reigning Olympic giant slalom champion has secured victory in six out of 10 races this season, propelling her to the top of the rankings as she aims to emulate compatriot Lindsey Vonn’s feat of winning three consecutive overall World Cup titles.
Shiffrin has accumulated a substantial points lead over her nearest competitor. Ragnhild Mowinckel of Norway currently holds second place overall with 367 points, while Shiffrin commands a commanding lead with 789 points. Nicole Schmidhofer of Austria follows in third place with 359 points.
“It was a tough battle, and I knew it would be challenging,” Shiffrin remarked. “I fought hard, and it paid off. The margin was small, just 14 hundredths, and Vicky made some errors, so I may have been a bit fortunate.”
