Dhe historic triumph of skiing superstar Mikaela Shiffrin is drawing ever closer. The 27-year-old American also won the slalom in Zagreb on Wednesday, her 81st World Cup race. Only one success separates the exceptional athlete from her compatriot Lindsey Vonn, who retired in 2019, who still holds the all-time record for women, but who recently declared her young compatriot the “best skier of all time” in an interview with the FAZ. In the men’s category, former Swedish technical specialist Ingemar Stenmark leads the list with 86 victories.
Olympic champion Petra Vlhova of Slovakia finished second, 0.76 seconds back. Anna Swenn-Larsson (+1.21) from Sweden took third place.
Germany’s best slalom skier Lena Dürr got off to a bad start in the new year and was eliminated in the first round. The Germeringerin slipped away at the entrance to the final part, stood completely sideways and even had to trudge up the slope a bit. Emma Aicher, Jessica Hilzinger and Andrea Filser, on the other hand, scored points and finished eleventh, 15th and 22nd. Aicher secured the World Cup ticket with her second top 15 result this winter.
Borderline Conditions
A month before the World Cup in France, Shiffrin is still in top form. The exceptional athlete from Colorado secured her fifth success in a row after winning the Super-G in St. Moritz and her triple in Semmering. In the second Zagreb slalom on Thursday, the two-time Olympic champion can finally become the best ski racer in alpine history.
Temperatures around ten degrees Celsius made for borderline conditions on the Bärenberg. With every driver, the piste became more and more difficult, sometimes grass glistened through the artificial snow. 21 of 63 starters were eliminated in the first round.
