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At the tender age of 17, Mikaela Shiffrin became slalom world champion for the first time in Schladming in 2013, and on Tuesday at the world cup premiere for women skiers under floodlights on the steep finish slope of the Planai, the US ski star took another step in the history books. Shiffrin celebrated her 47th triumph in the discipline and passed the Swedish legend Ingemar Stenmark.
He had once also lined up 46 victories in one discipline, albeit in the giant slalom. “This is something special,” said Shiffrin with tears in his eyes, “for a long time it was thought that Ingemar’s record could not be broken at all. It took a long time, it took many years to do it, and it was really cool.”
Conquering the Planai, which was previously reserved for men, had long been a dream of the three-time overall World Cup winner. “It is an absolute privilege to be here. I just wanted to do a good job and show that I am worthy of being allowed to drive here on this special mountain.” Especially since she was only able to defeat permanent rival Petra Vlhova there for the second time this season.
The Slovak could comfort herself with the early win of the discipline crystal ball in second place. “Mikaela is a great champion. We push each other. It’s good for the sport and for the show.” In almost a month, on February 9th, the Olympic slalom will rise, and a duel between the two absolute best in slalom is expected there too.
From an Austrian point of view, Chiara Mair was the most surprising. But despite fourth place, she doesn’t believe in Beijing. “So far I’ve driven too badly for that,” fears the Tyrolean. Last year, Mair was Austria’s number three in slalom behind Katharina Liensberger and Katharina Truppe and finished sixth at the World Cup. After a change of material, the police athlete had a long hard time before she surprisingly carved from 14 to four on Tuesday night with the third-best running time.
Zauchensee next station
The World Cup will now continue with two speed races at the weekend in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee. The chances are very good that on the calf hole route for the first time since 2014 (winner Elisabeth Görgl) the 72 percent steep starting gun can be driven again and thus from the very top.
Source: Nachrichten
