Shiffrin Wins 2nd Straight World Cup Slalom In Aspen

Then again, she’s typically quick at Aspen.

Hansdotter and Sarka Strachova of the Czech Republic were the only racers to finish closer than 3.4 seconds.

“I think there’s something special about Aspen”, Shiffrin said after winning two races here and almost winning a third. “Hopefully we will find a way to catch her”. “She’s in another class”.

And it’s not like her competitors skied all that bad.

The second run is scheduled for 13:00 local time. With Shiffrin’s victory and Resi Stiegler’s top-10 and top-15 results from the 2015 Aspen Winternational, the Americans are looking sharp for Aspen’s World Cup Finals in 2017.

Know what? She wants to win by that margin again.

Mikaela Shiffrin made it two-for-two today, winning her second slalom this winter and fifth in a row stretching back to last season. It was a mark that had stood since 1968. I think everybody else pushed it a little harder too. Nobody likes to be beaten by three seconds. I’d hate to be in that position.

“This morning, I woke up and was like, ‘They’re all playing a joke on me”.

Not so much mad as motivated.

Her anger at that mishap provided motivation, she said, answering with back-to-back slalom wins in Aspen. “We are in the States, so I felt like, ‘OK, it’s all right if she wins, ‘ and then, ‘She crashed, she can also make mistakes, so I win.’ It’s unusual that Mikaela does mistakes like that”.

Shiffrin is expected to go head-to-head with Vonn as the former moves from her traditional domain of slalom into some of Vonn’s favored speed events. At least, Hansdotter is hoping that’s the case.

Shiffrin stretched her overall World Cup points lead with the victory as the women’s circuit heads for Canada’s Lake Louise next weekend. “But for sure it’s really impressive”.

Shiffrin won the Saturday slalom by 3.07 seconds, the largest margin in women’s World Cup slalom history. It’s the longest streak in slalom by a female skier since Marlies Schild of Austria captured five straight in 2011-12.

This has turned into quite a weekend of racing for Shiffrin after a rough start.

Shiffrin was fastest in the sun-soaked first run as well as the flat-light second run after experiencing the frustration of an agonizing loss in Friday’s giant slalom, when she fell two gates from the finish while in the lead. “The GS was disappointing, but still a great race”.

She also explained what makes Aspen such a unique and challenging venue for the women’s World Cup.

Veronika Velez Zuzulova of Slovakia, who finished second to Shiffrin on Saturday, skied out early in the first run Sunday.