The dominance of Mikaela Shiffrin goes beyond simple winning every slalom of the Olympic season. She’s dominating each race and finishing with considerable leads as well.
An Evening Marked by History-Making Performance
The US ski sensation claimed a record-extending 105th World Cup victory after a number of her primary challengers were eliminated during the opening run of a night race on Tuesday.
Shiffrin built upon her first-run lead and concluded 1.55 seconds ahead of Swiss skier Camille Rast and 1.71 ahead of competitor from Germany Emma Aicher.
"Shiffrin has now won the opening four slaloms of the season – and five straight including the last event of last season," noted analysts.
Overwhelming Margins of Success
All of her margins of victory this season have topped a full second – with a trio over 1.5 seconds: a 1.66-second lead in Levi, Finland; 1.23 seconds in Gurgl, Austria; and 1.57 seconds in Copper Mountain, Colorado before her latest performance in the French Alps.
Challengers Encounter Struggles
Opponents attempting to reach Shiffrin encountered trouble.
- Lena Duerr, the German skier who was third after the first run, went off course early in her second trip down.
- Lara Colturi, the born in Italy skier who represents Albania, missed a gate toward the end of her opening run – ending a streak of three straight slalom podiums.
- Wendy Holdener achieved a seventh-place finish despite a incident at the end of her first run where she encountered a rut, was flipped into the air, and landed on her back.
Defending World Cup slalom champion Zrinka Ljutic and Olympic silver medalist Katharina Liensberger, the next two starters, were disqualified midway down the course.
This marks the third straight slalom that Ljutic has not completed.
Final Standings
Katharina Truppe of Austria finished fourth and American skier Paula Moltzan moved up from ninth to fifth with the fastest second run of the race.
An Iconic Career of Achievements
This win represented Shiffrin's sixty-eighth World Cup slalom victory. Her Olympic accolades include gold in slalom at the 2014 Sochi Olympics and the giant slalom gold four years later at the Pyeongchang Games. She did not reach the podium at the 2022 Beijing Games.
The upcoming winter Olympics' women’s Alpine skiing events will be held in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy – a venue where Shiffrin won four medals in her four events at the 2021 world championships.
