Marlies Schild won her fourth straight race in women’s World Cup slalom skiing on Thursday, while 16-year-old Mikaela Shiffrin of the US placed third to become the youngest female racer on a World Cup slalom podium in 33 years.
Schild, who now has a career tally of 31 victories in the discipline, had two flawless runs to finish in an aggregate 1 minute, 51.42 seconds and beat second-place Tina Maze of Slovenia by 0.79 seconds.
Shiffrin started her eighth World Cup event as No. 40, ended the opening run in 12th position before posting the fastest time in the final run.
Photo: AFP
She finished 1.30 behind Schild, who lost 0.24 to Shiffrin in the final run.
Shiffrin, who became the youngest US national slalom champion last spring, impressed with an all-attacking yet error-free second run, in which she made many turns extremely close to the gates.
“I have been working so hard for this moment,” said Shiffrin, who finished eighth in the Aspen slalom last month.
“Schild, Zettel, Hosp, Vonn; I have been watching all these top girls for the past 10 years. And now I am here myself, it really feels crazy,” she said.
Shiffrin made her debut on the World Cup just before her 16th birthday last March, starting in two World Cup races in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic.
For now, she’s only focusing on slalom and giant slalom, leaving the speed events for later.
“I have learned something from so many racers,” she said. “From Marlies, getting her 31st win here. From Lindsey, with so many wins in all the disciplines. From the whole US team, with all their energy and the positive attitude.”
Accompanied by mother Eileen, who also helps the high-school student with her homework, Shiffrin lives in an apartment near Soelden, Austria, the US team’s training base in Europe.
While Shiffrin stepped on to the podium for the first time, the 30-year-old Schild equaled Vreni Schneider’s record with her 47th World Cup slalom podium.
Shiffrin said she was impressed by meeting Schild, one of her idols.
“It’s the first time I’ve been talking to Marlies in person,” Shiffrin said. “I couldn’t believe she was congratulating me after the race. What a moment!”
Schild was just as excited by the teenager’s performance.
“Of course I saw her in Aspen, she’s a real talent,” Schild told reporters.
“I see a lot of myself in the way she is skiing. She has all what it takes to become a great champion in the near future,” she added.
While Shiffrin made her first podium appearance, her teammate Sarah Schleper retired after 15 years on the circuit.
“This is so special for the US team,” Shiffrin said.
“Sarah has been an unstoppable force for so many years. She’s so positive, she loves racing more than anybody, and she has brought so many people into -skiing,” Shiffrin said.
Schleper, in a recent interview with The Associated Press, said: “Mikaela wants to be the best skier in the world as soon as she can ... She is capable of great things.”
US teammate Lindsey Vonn came 18th and retained the lead in the overall standings.
The three-time champion has 612 points, followed by Schild with 440 and Austria’s Anna Fenninger, who usually skips slalom, with 368.
Defending overall champion Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany had costly mistakes in the steep final part of both her runs and -finished ninth, 1.99 behind Schild.
In the overall standings, Hoefl-Riesch is fifth with 326 points.
After a solid first run, Vonn lost speed and time going into the final section of her second run, finishing 3.01 off the lead.
Vonn has not managed to appear on a slalom podium for more than two years.
“It’s getting closer [to the podium],” she said.
“I am hoping to get back in the [starting] top 15 and that will help a lot,” she said.
After a short break, the women’s World Cup will continue on Tuesday with another slalom event in Zagreb, Croatia.
Manchester United on Tuesday confirmed Michael Carrick as interim manager until the end of the season, tasking him with leading the Red Devils back into the UEFA Champions League. “Having the responsibility to lead Manchester United is an honor,” said Carrick, 44, who won 12 major trophies in his 12-year playing career at United. The former midfielder previously had an unbeaten three-game stint as caretaker boss at Old Trafford in 2021. Carrick then took on his first permanent managerial role at second-tier Middlesbrough in October 2022 and was sacked in June last year after the club finished 10th in the
Mohamed Salah’s Egypt knocked reigning champions Ivory Coast out of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) with a 3-2 win in the quarter-finals on Saturday, while Victor Osimhen starred as Nigeria beat Algeria 2-0 to set up a clash with hosts Morocco. In Agadir, Morocco, a thrilling last-eight tie saw Omar Marmoush and Ramy Rabia net in the first half for the Pharaohs before an own goal by Ahmed Aboul-Fetouh brought the Ivorians back into it. Salah then got Egypt’s third early in the second half and they held on after Guela Doue again reduced the deficit. Egypt is to face Senegal
AUSTRALIAN ADVENTURE: Sabalenka aims to follow up with a third Australian Open win, while Taiwanese Joanna Garland claimed a WTA 125 title in Canberra Aryna Sabalenka beat Karolina Muchova in straight sets to reach her third Brisbane International final in a row yesterday, a week ahead of the Australian Open. Sabalenka looked in great touch against the tricky Czech, who had won their last three meetings and went into the match as one of the few players with a winning record over the world No. 1. However, Sabalenka showed her class and power as she broke Muchova once in each set to take the semi-final 6-3, 6-4 in 89 minutes to face Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk in the final. “I struggled against her a couple of times [in
Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Sunday sparked defending champions Oklahoma City to victory, while Anthony Edwards led Minnesota’s last-minute fightback to beat San Antonio. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points while adding eight assists and five rebounds in the Thunder’s 124-112 home victory over Miami, improving the NBA’s best record to 33-7 after outscoring the Heat 70-53 in the second half. “We locked in defensively. We were finally able to get some stops,” Thunder guard Aaron Wiggins said. “We were able to get out in transition a little bit, get going offensively and find the flow.” Jalen Williams scored 18 points, while
RSS