Petra Vlhova yesterday edged Mikaela Shiffrin again in the first run of a women’s World Cup slalom, a day after the Slovakian skier won both runs in the season-opening slalom.
Vlhova was .18 seconds faster than Shiffrin on a course set by one of the US coaches, Jeff Lackie.
Shiffrin is aiming for her 71st career win and 46th in slalom, which would see her match a 32-year-old record for most World Cup wins in a single discipline, set by Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark in the giant slalom.
Photo: AP
Michelle Gisin of Switzerland trailed by .36 seconds and Anna Swenn Larsson of Sweden by .37 seconds, while the rest of the field had to make up at least half of a second on Vlhova in the final run.
Germany’s Lena Durr, who finished in third place on Saturday, finished .66 seconds behind in sixth place, while Austria’s Slalom World Cup and world champion Katharina Liensberger finished 0.94 seconds back in 10th place.
Only .01 seconds ahead at the second checkpoint, Vlhova gained more time on Shiffrin with a smooth transition from the flat section into the steep middle part of the run.
Photo: AP
“On the flat part, I felt not so good because today is harder and the snow surface is more aggressive, so I went really full gas in the steep part,” Vlhova said.
The defending overall World Cup champion from Slovakia defeated Shiffrin by .31 seconds on Saturday.
“It’s a new day, a new race, so I try to stay focused on today, not thinking about yesterday,” Vlhova said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
While Vlhova and Shiffrin have each won the race in Finnish Lapland four times, no other skier has won it since Tina Maze triumphed in 2014.
SKI JUMPING
AFP, NIZHNY TAGIL, Russia
Ski jumper Karl Geiger of Germany on Saturday made a dream start to the World Cup season by soaring to victory in Nizhny Tagil, Russia, less than three months before the Winter Olympics.
The reigning world champion threw down a marker for February’s Beijing Games by jumping 134.5m and 133m to clinch victory in the Urals with 252.9 points.
Japan’s Ryoyu Kobayashi took second place with 243.7 points, while Norway’s defending World Cup champion Halvor Egner Granerud took third with 239.7 points.
Geiger claimed his 10th World Cup win and his third in a row, having finished the past season with a double victory at Planica, Slovenia, in March.
There was more good news for the Germans as former team world champion Stephan Leyhe finished 14th on his comeback, 20 months after rupturing knee ligaments — only a weak second jump prevented the 29-year-old from a top 10 finish.
However, Germany’s reigning Olympic champion Andreas Wellinger missed the final in 31st place with 114.0m (93.8 points).
The 26-year-old is still struggling for form two years after tearing his cruciate ligament and must continue to wait for his first World Cup point since March 2019.
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