Mikaela Shiffrin won the first of two Slaloms to be held in the Sljeme's "Crveni spust" Slalom course. It's the fifth time Shiffrin wins in Zagreb. Her last win hin Croatia was on 5 January 2019. She draws level in victories in the Zagreb slalom with record holder Marcel Hirscher.
Petra Vlhova finished in second place +0.76 seconds behind the US skier.
Anna Swenn Larsson rounded out the podium in third place +1.21 off the pace of Shiffrin.
Shiffrin celebrates her 81st World Cup victory and 127 podium. Only Ingemar Stenmark (155), Marcel Hirscher (138), and Lindsey Vonn (137), have claimed more podiums in the World Cup than Mikaela Shiffrin.
With today's win the Shiffrin is closing one step further the gap with Lindsey Vonn. She is only one win short to tie with Lindsey Vonn (82) as record holder among women. Tomorrow in the second Slalom in Zagreb she can draw level with her former teammate. The only man to have won more World Cup events is Ingemar Stenmark (86).
The 27-year-old skier from Colorado has won seven races this season including the last five events in the women's World Cup: a Super-G in St.Moritz on 18 December, two Giant Slaloms in Semmering on 27 and 28 December and two Slaloms in Semmering on 29 December and today in Zagreb.
Shiffrin claimed today her 51st World Cup slalom win, more than any other alpine skier in a specific event. Only Ingemar Stenmark (81 in men's Slalom & 72 in men's Giant Slalom) has as many podium finishes in a specific event as Shiffrin in the women's Slalom (71).
“It was two almost perfect runs, I couldn't have done better. I didn't feel any pressure today and felt free. It's a great feeling when you can ski like that. I want to have the same feeling tomorrow", said Shiffrin.
"I'm really happy with how my skis felt in these conditions. I think that was the most exciting thing of the day, that I felt so good skiing when it's a bit softer", she added.
Petra Vlhova finished in the top-four in the last 15 World Cup slalom events she started in. This includes five wins, but not since she won three Slalom events in a row in Lienz, Zagreb and Kranjska Gora in December 2021- January 2022. It is her 62 podium in the World Cup.
“My runs were good, but not good enough. I always want to win, but Mikaela is really strong this season and was better today. I have my next chance tomorrow", said Vlhova.
Swenn Larsson, second after the first run, put down an aggressive second run, and despite making an error at the last sections of the course, she was able to recover to finished in the podium. The 31-year-old Swedish skier had achieved eight slalom podiums in the World Cup.
“The first run was difficult, in the second run I felt better. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to do as well as I want over the entire run. I am very happy with third place”, Swenn Larsson said.
The Sljeme's "Crveni spust" Slalom course is usually the longest slope in the women's slalom World Cup, but due to the difficult snow conditions, the start was moved further down, so the run was around ten seconds shorter than in previous years.
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