Mikaela Shiffrin on Friday did not celebrate her shared victory with Slovakian rival Petra Vlhova in the final World Cup race before the world championships.
Shiffrin did not look at ease right after finishing, bending forward for a while, although in a first reaction on Slovenian TV, she said: “It’s all good.”
Hours later, she skipped a mandatory public awards ceremony and bib draw to get physical therapy for an unnamed issue.
Photo: AP
Her head coach, Mike Day, said that it was an issue she has had to deal with before, but did not elaborate.
Shiffrin is a multiple medal threat at the worlds in Are, Sweden, and was considering a start in the opening super-G race on Tuesday.
After Friday’s race, Shiffrin said she “was a little bit tense sometimes. It feels like it’s been so long since the last race.”
The American sat out various speed events and has competed in just two races in the past three weeks, winning both.
On Friday, she and Vlhova added a draw to their season-long rivalry.
Shiffrin, the Olympic champion in the event, held a lead of 0.48 seconds after the opening run, but Vlhova posted the fastest time in the final run and made up the difference.
“It’s always a relief to see the green light. There was a fight in the second run and I almost lost it at the bottom,” said Shiffrin, who extended her lead to 0.62 seconds midway through her final run before losing the advantage on the icy last section.
“When I watch other sports, I am like hating it when there has to be a loser. I wish everybody could win. So today was nice,” she added with a smile.
The victory is Shiffrin’s 55th career win and ninth in giant slalom, matching the US women’s record of World Cup GS wins set by Tamara McKinney in the 1980s.
Vlhova earned her second victory in giant slalom after also winning in Semmering in December.
She has become Shiffrin’s closest challenger in the technical disciplines, even beating the American in her strongest event, the slalom, at a night race in Flachau early last month. The pair is 1-2 in the overall standings, with Shiffrin leading 1,594 points to 998.
“We are all the time really close. Today we share first place. It’s good for everyone,” said Vlhova, who raised her career tally to eight wins.
With winning the season-long GS title as one of her main goals, Shiffrin extended her lead in the discipline standings. She has 455 points, 81 clear of Worley in second place. Vlhova climbed to third with 318.
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