Slalom in Saalbach – Shiffrin’s perfect end to a complicated season – Sport

The second race after the comeback also becomes Mikaela Shiffrin’s prey. Camille Rast and Michelle Gisin are in the top 10.

The podium

• 1. Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) 1:53.22 minutes
• 2. Mina Fürst Holtmann (NOR) +0.54 s
• 3. Anna Swenn-Larsson (SWE) + 0.63

As if she had never been away: Mikaela Shiffrin also won the slalom at the World Cup finals in Saalbach Hinterglemm. Even rain, a soft, salty slope and deep grooves couldn’t slow down the 28-year-old. It was the 7th competition in the pole forest that the American won this winter and also the 97th World Cup victory overall. In the first run, Shiffrin had to let Anna Swenn-Larsson put her in her place. In the decision she made up a total of 74 hundredths on the Swede.

The fact that Shiffrin won the small crystal ball in the Slalom World Cup for the 8th time in a row had already become clear a week ago. This is how a complicated season for the 5-time overall World Cup champion ends on a positive note. In January, Shiffrin suffered a lateral ligament injury in his left knee in a fall in Cortina, as well as worries about his partner Aleksander Kilde after his bad fall in Wengen.

After a 6-week break, she returned to the World Cup circuit with two slalom victories. Because she doesn’t feel ready for Sunday’s giant slalom and the following speed races, Shiffrin’s season is already over.

The comebacks

Mina Fürst Holtmann placed between Shiffrin and Swenn-Larsson. The Norwegian raced from 8th to 2nd place with a furious second run. Neja Dvornik managed an even more impressive comeback. The Slovenian, 21st after the first round, used her good number in the afternoon. Dvornik gained 17 places and was only 4 hundredths short of the podium.

The Swiss women

• 8. Camille Rast +1.07
• 10. Michelle Gisin +1.29
• OUT Mélanie Meillard

6 days after Michelle Gisin’s podium finish in Are, the Swiss women had it Nothing to gain in the absence of team leader Wendy Holdener in spring-like conditions. Gisin, who struggled on the not too steep slope, ultimately ended up in 10th place. Camille Rast (8th) made it into the fastest 10 for the 7th time this season. Mélanie Meillard was eliminated after an incorrect second run.

This is how it continues

The women’s giant slalom follows on Sunday at the World Cup final in Salzburgerland. The season ends next week with the Super-G on Friday and the downhill on Saturday.