Shiffrin uses blazing final run to win World Cup slalom

The curse of the United States skiers in Aspen continued on Friday as both Mikaela Shiffrin and Lindsey Vonn both failed to finish the second giant slalom of the World Cup season in Colorado.

Giant Slalom victor Lara Gut of Switzerland shows off her Aspen Champions Grove tree that will be planted just off the Ruthies run at Aspen Mountain to honor her win on Friday, alongside the winners of each Aspen Winternational Slalom and Giant Slalom race.

Mikaela Shiffrin bounced back from a crash the day before to take a big lead following the first run of a World Cup slalom Saturday. She buried her face in the snow as the crowd went silent.

“It would be fantastic for USA skiing and hopefully people would be paying attention”, said McKinney, who’s coaching and selling real estate in Squaw Valley, California. But the 31-year-old was beginning to find her rhythm when her left ski popped off. She was not hurt when she slid into the side netting, calling the wipeout “super annoying”.

Shiffrin’s victory snaps a 34-year winless streak for American women at Aspen, with Tamara McKinney last winning a giant slalom in March of 1981.

Vonn had previously said she wouldn’t ski the slalom races on Saturday and Sunday.

“The course wasn’t that hard, actually”, she said. It’s never easy to race here because it’s quite high in altitude. “When I have a good moment or feel good, it’s like the most unbelievable feeling in the world”.

“Two gates from the finish, I was like ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe I made it this far!'” said Shiffrin.

“I always try to just reach my goals and not to think about or not listen to what others want me to ski like”, Brem said. “It doesn’t happen often-the stars have to line up”, Shiffrin said.

The first run will start at 10 a.m. The second run will begin at 1 p.m. “Yesterday, I made the decision that I was going to let it fuel me for today”.

“I was a bit nervous. I did a couple NorAms coming into this and had some good sections, but I didn’t have what I wanted to see coming into here for confidence”, she explained. She had the fastest time on the final pass.

“I thought that was a natural instinct?”

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