Mikaela Shiffrin wins World Cup slalom and takes quest for her 100th victory to North America

GURGL, Austria — Mikaela Shiffrin is taking the quest for her 100th vocation World Cup triumph to North America.

The American skis prima mightiness adjacent get the 1 triumph she needs for the milestone successful what is similar a location contention for her successful Killington, Vermont, which hosts a elephantine slalom and a slalom adjacent weekend.

“I conjecture it’s not impossible, but truthful galore things person to spell right,” Shiffrin said Saturday successful the Austrian Alps aft earning her record-extending 99th triumph — which was this season’s 2nd slalom.

Shiffrin, who is from Colorado, honed her skills astatine Burke Mountain Academy, adjacent to Killington.

“From the extracurricular it looks easy, oregon it looks similar it’s expected to hap this way. But it takes, similar adjacent today, truthful overmuch vigor to bring retired my apical skiing, truthful it’s surely not easy,” the American said astir approaching the landmark triumph connected location snow.

After the events successful Killington, the 16-day North American information of the World Cup continues with 2 elephantine slaloms successful Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, and a super-G successful Beaver Creek, Colorado.

“I conjecture determination is simply a spot of unit astir it, but I’ll effort to disregard that,” said Shiffrin, who besides won the archetypal slalom of the play successful Levi, Finland a week ago.

“Anyway, if it happens, it’s wonderful. If it doesn’t happen, benignant of thing to outcry astir successful the expansive scheme. But I anticipation to person a truly bully show successful beforehand of the location crowd.”

No different skier, antheral oregon female, has won much than 86 World Cup races. Shiffrin acceptable the champion people erstwhile she overtook Swedish large Ingemar Stenmark successful March 2023.

Shiffrin has triumphed successful the past six slaloms she competed in, including each 4 since her instrumentality from a genu wounded pursuing a downhill clang successful January.

On Saturday, the two-time Olympic champion held connected to her first-run pb to bushed Italian prodigy Lara Colturi, who starts for Albania, by 0.55 seconds and Swiss skier Camille Rast by 0.57. They some got their archetypal vocation podium result.

In the archetypal run, Shiffrin wasn’t cleanable going into the steep of the Kirchenkar people but gained clip connected each competitors with a near-flawless conception toward the finish.

“It’s a beauteous unusual surface, similar acold and dry. It’s hard to beryllium cleanable connected the skis. So, I was feeling a small spot funky connected immoderate spots,” Shiffrin said.

“But successful the end, I kept pushing forward, conscionable stayed connected apical of it and pushed to the finish. I find it to beryllium truly challenging connected this information to find the close setup to consciousness cleanable and to consciousness similar you tin unleash the skis.”

Shiffrin acknowledged to being “really tense astatine the top” earlier the commencement of her 2nd run.

“I wasn’t definite however I was going to consciousness with the surface. It was getting darker. Sometimes erstwhile I americium not definite astir the feeling nether my feet, past I instrumentality excessively overmuch clip to marque the turn,” she said.

“I could perceive each the women going down and their teams were cheering, and that ever means they had a truly bully run. And it was getting darker,” said Shiffrin, adding she didn’t “think it’s happening today.”

Shiffrin initially extended her pb to much than seven-tenths of a 2nd and lone mislaid fractions of that implicit the past 2 sections.

“It feels truly satisfying to person a truly large tally down this slope. What a fantastic day,” she said.

Sharing the podium with 2 young competitors earning their archetypal top-three effect made Shiffrin deliberation backmost to erstwhile she got her archetypal vocation podium — astatine a slalom astatine different Austrian venue, Lienz, successful December 2011.

“It was incredible, with Marlies (Raich) and Tina (Maze),” recalled Shiffrin, who started that contention with bib No. 40 but finished third.

“It was specified a peculiar feeling, similar ‘Oh my God, I americium here, and I should beryllium here, and I beryllium here.’ It’s conscionable successful the opening of your career. And the future, determination is nary limit. That’s conscionable specified a fantastic feeling.”

Swiss skier Wendy Holdener, who was 2nd aft the opening run, dropped to fourth, and Shiffrin’s teammate Paula Moltzan trailed by 1.10 seconds successful sixth.

Olympic champion Petra Vlhova, Shiffrin’s biggest rival successful slalom, hasn’t returned to racing yet aft undergoing genu country past season.

Gurgl was a caller venue connected the women’s World Cup, aft it staged a men’s contention past season. The edifice successful the Austrian Alps is conscionable a 15-kilometer thrust from Soelden, wherever the accepted play opener took spot 4 weeks ago.

The men contention a slalom connected the aforesaid elevation connected Sunday.