100. Mikaela Shiffrin won the slalom in Sestriere on Sunday, 0.61 seconds ahead of Zrinka Ljutić, with Paula Moltzan third at 0.64. It was her 100th World Cup win. Nobody else has reached three figures.
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mikaela ShiffrinUSA | USA | — |
| 2 | Zrinka LjutićCRO | CRO | +0.61 |
| 3 | Paula MoltzanUSA | USA | +0.64 |
The race
Shiffrin started fourth and led the first run by 0.09. Snow in the morning gave way to sun in the afternoon. The second run had tight rhythm sections, hairpins and flushes, the sort of combinations where a slalom skier either stays ahead of the course or falls behind it. She was ahead of it. She gained time at every split and was a full half-second faster than Ljutić on the second run.
Moltzan was fourth after the first run. In the second she passed Cornelia Oehlund, who had held the lead for more than ten racers, to take third. It was her third podium of the season and her first in slalom this winter.
Context
The 99th win came in Gurgl in November. A week later, leading a giant slalom in Killington after the first run, Shiffrin crashed. She had a deep puncture wound and severe trauma to her oblique muscles, and was out for several weeks. She has also described lingering anxiety about racing giant slalom. In the two Sestriere GS races this weekend she was 25th on Friday and outside the top 30 after the first run on Saturday, her first time there since 2012.
The slalom was a different story.
Numbers
- 100 World Cup wins, the first skier to reach the mark.
- 63 slalom wins.
- 155 podiums, equal to Ingemar Stenmark’s record on the FIS count, in 278 starts to his 284.
Next for the women’s tour: speed races in Kvitfjell from 28 February. Shiffrin’s next slalom and giant slalom are in Åre on 8–9 March.