Mikaela Shiffrin delivered another dominant slalom victory in Gurgl on Saturday - her second of the season and sixth in a row.
The American claimed her 99th Alpine Ski World Cup victory, 62nd in Slalom, at the Women’s premiere in Gurgl.
Shiffrin was accompanied on the podium by two new faces, Lara Colturi and Camille Rast, second and third respectively.
Mikaela Shiffrin masterfully skied the second run in a tricky and steep course, after setting the best time in the first run, to finish +0.55 seconds ahead of Lara Colturi. The 18-year-old Albanian skier, who worked her way up from 4th to 2nd place, secured her first podium finish in the World Cup. Camille Rast finished in third place, 0.57 seconds behind, and also achieved her first World Cup podium after finishing fifth in the first run.
"It fIt was a spectacular day. I am so excited! It was two really good runs. The second run was a big mental challenge because I was not sure how it would feel with the surface and it was getting darker. Sometimes, when I am not sure about the feeling under feet, I take too much time for the turn so I tried to push anyway and it was great," Shiffrin said.
Before today, the best World Cup result for Lara Colturi, daughter of Olympic champion Daniela Ceccarelli, was ninth place in the Night Slalom in Flachau last season. She is the first skier from Albania to climb onto the World Cup podium.
"It's unbelievable. I felt great, I'm very happy with how I skied today. I just wanted to have fun. It's the first time I've been on the podium. I wasn't prepared for that," Colturi said.
With a fifth place at the slalom opener in Levi last week and three top-five slalom finishes last season, 25-year-old Camille Rast has confirmed today her status as one of the women to watch this season.
"Unbelievable. Finally. It almost doesn't feel like it's true. I still can't believe it. The questions about the first podium came up so often. When I saw the time, I knew I couldn't do much more. When I was pushed out by two hundredths, I thought: 'Oh no, please, not so close again.' It's really nice that it worked out," Rast said.
Mikaela Shiffrin is now just one victory away from the "hundred" milestone. Next week in Killington, the 29-year-old will have the chance to reach the 100th mark in the Giant Slalom and Slalom races on Saturday and Sunday.
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