Shiffrin claims slalom at Killington

Edwards resident Mikaela Shiffrin on Sunday secured her record-extending 90th World Cup victory with a slalom win on home snow at Killington, Vermont. Here’s the press release from the U.S. Ski Team:

Mikaela Shiffrin scored her 90th World Cup victory in front of thousands of New England fans at the Stifel Killington Cup slalom. Stifel U.S. Ski Team teammate Paula Moltzan also had a tremendous day with an eighth place finish.

The stands were packed once again as the Stifel U.S. Ski Team ladies prepared to put on a show for their domestic fans. Shiffrin immediately took the lead, running bib three with a clean run on the steep and icy course. Moltzan was not far behind, skiing into sixth place on run one, just over a second out from Shiffrin. 

On the second run, the roar of the crowd was deafening as they patiently awaited the second runs of Moltzan and Shiffrin. Moltzan knifed out of the gate, but had a major bobble halfway down the run, putting her hip onto the snow. However, Moltzan continued her strong skiing with a remarkable recovery to move just two places back and finished in the top 10 for the second day in a row. 

“I pulled out some resilient skiing after that mistake but the crowd is what pulled me through. I could hear them from the top,” said Moltzan. “Although eighth isn’t really what I wanted, it’s a great result to end the weekend.” 

Shiffrin rival Vlohva nailed her second run, but it didn’t seem to cause Shiffrin a hiccup. She remained calm and collected as she descended down Superstar, not missing a beat with each turn. When she reached the break over of the hill, the crowd was howling as Shiffrin skied into the finish and edged Slovakia’s Petra Vlhova by a mere 0.33 hundredths of a second overall. Swiss skier Wendy Holdener ended up third, 1.37 seconds out. 

“It’s amazing to race in front of this crowd but being in position to win is something different,” said Shiffrin. “I was thinking today that it’s really great to have the fastest time on the first run but I have to back it up. It was a totally different course so I had to adjust the mentality there too.” 

Stifel U.S Ski Team athlete Allie Resnick had a strong first run where she ended up in 49th position; she did not qualify for a second run. Zoe Zimmermann and AJ Hurt did not finish the first run. Dasha Romanov was originally slated to compete, but did not start due to a back injury. 

The women will now head to Tremblant, Canada for a pair of giant slalom races Dec. 2-3. 

RESULTS
Women’s slalom