Of the four alpine race disciplines, slalom arguably is the most difficult to dominate, even for a racer who clearly stands apart the way Mikaela Shiffrin does. Racers are turning back and forth with split-second reflexes, and the fastest line is the shortest line. That means racers try to come as close to gates as possible without hooking a tip.
That makes winning even harder because the racer who posts the fastest first run goes 30th in the second run, having to navigate a course that has developed ruts and shelves that can easily eject a racer who isn’t in perfect position and sharply focused. Shiffrin calls it “the edge of disaster.”
Those are reasons Shiffrin’s current hegemony is so stunning. The EagleVail 22-year-old captured her fifth win in six slalom races this season on Wednesday in Zagreb, Croatia by the massive margin of 1.59 seconds, and it was her 23rd podium appearance in her last 24 slaloms. That ranks it among the best slalom streaks in history. Only Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden (38 of 39) and Vreni Schneider of Switzerland (26 of 27) have posted longer runs of excellence.
It was Shiffrin’s 38th career win across all disciplines and stands sixth on the all-time women’s list, eclipsing her childhood idol Marlies Schild of Austria whose mark she tied with a win Monday in Oslo.
It also gave Shiffrin the rare opportunity for redemption. She straddled a gate last year in Zagreb, the rare lapse in a run of form that saw her win five of six slaloms, and that was the only slalom last season that she failed to place on the podium. Shiffrin previously won at Zagreb in 2013 and 2015.
“I love racing here, so I was really excited to come back this year and have a little bit of redemption and ski aggressive,” Shiffrin told the crowd over the public address system moments after her win. “I did, and I’m really happy with that.”
Shiffrin added another 100 points to her massive lead in the overall standings over the second-place racer, Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany. Shiffrin is at 1,081 and Rebensburg — who did not race Wednesday — has 510.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Notable World Cup podium runs
Ingemar Stenmark, Sweden, 38 of 39 in slalom
Vreni Schneider, Switzerland, 26 of 27 in slalom
Annemarie Moser-Proell, Austria, 24 of 25 in downhill
Mikaela Shiffrin, EagleVail, 23 of 24 in slalom
Hermann Maier, Austria, 18 of 19 in super-G
Source: The Olympic Channel
Women’s World Cup standings (after 16 of 39 races)
Mikaela Shiffrin, EagleVail, 1,081 points
Viktoria Rebensburg, Germany, 510
Petra Vlhova, Slovakia, 475
Wendy Holdener, Switzerland, 450
Tina Weirather, Liechtenstein, 374
