Victory after a race against time
Ski queen Mikaela Shiffrin celebrates goosebumps comeback
March 10, 2024, 3:59 p.m
Ski star Mikaela Shiffrin has to take a break for several weeks after a serious fall. Now she is returning to the World Cup as if nothing had ever happened. A few training runs are enough for the American to outclass the competition.
Ski star Mikaela Shiffrin celebrated an impressive comeback and won the overall slalom World Cup for the eighth time. The American won in Åre, Sweden and can no longer be pushed off the top of the discipline rankings at the last slalom of the season next weekend in Saalbach-Hinterglemm.
In her first race after a six-week injury break, Shiffrin won by more than a second ahead of Croatian Zrinka Ljutic and Swiss Michelle Gisin. Lena Dürr from Munich missed her next podium place by just a hundredth of a second in fourth place. The 32-year-old was the only athlete Shiffrin still had to fear. However, Dürr’s deficit in the slalom rankings was enormous. Her German teammate Emma Aicher surprisingly finished seventh.
“Race against time”
“The training was a race against time,” said Shiffrin before the race, adding that the preparation for the World Cup slalom in Åre was a tough battle because the training units were limited. “I’ve had three slalom training sessions in the last seven weeks that were anywhere near normal,” she explained, illustrating the intensity of her struggle.
Shiffrin had a serious fall on the Cortina d’Ampezzo descent at the end of January and had been sidelined ever since. When she returned, she raced straight to the 96th World Cup success of her career. However, she will no longer intervene in the fight for the overall World Cup victory this winter.
Federica Brignone won the giant slalom on Saturday. The Italian thus postponed the decisions in the overall World Cup and in the discipline ranking. Lara Gut-Behrami is clearly ahead in both classifications before the season finale. The Swiss also leads in the downhill and super-G and could therefore win four crystal balls.