Olympics
Mikaela Shiffrin has 104 career World Cup wins, the most in Alpine skiing history. Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images
American Alpine skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin won her third straight World Cup slalom race to start this Olympic season, dominating Sunday on the home snow of Copper Mountain in Colorado, one year to the day after a hard crash that cost her two months of last season.
Just as she did in World Cup slaloms in Levi, Finland, and Gurgl, Austria, the previous two weeks, Shiffrin once again won by well over a second. She finished in a combined time of 1 minute, 48.75 seconds, 1.57 better than Germany’s Lena Duerr. Albania’s Lara Colturi took third, 1.85 behind.
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It’s the fourth straight overall slalom win for Shiffrin, who also won the 2024-25 season finale race in March in Sun Valley, Idaho, and a record-extending 104th overall Alpine World Cup race win in her unmatched career. Sixty-seven of those are in slalom.
In bib No. 4, racing not far from her home, Shiffrin posted an early first-run time of 52.94 seconds that no skier after her came within a half-second of matching. Switzerland’s Wendy Holdener, who led off the first run, had the second-best time, 0.28 behind Shiffrin.
But in the second run, the top challengers faded. Holdener had the 25th-best time in the final leg. Austria’s Katarina Liensberger, in third after the first run, had the 18th-best time in the second. Colturi, fourth after the first trip, had just the 14th-best time.
That meant Shiffrin, the last skier up, basically just needed to get to the finish line. She started her second run with a 1.28-second lead and grew it from there.
“I felt perfect this run,” Shiffrin said. “I connected with the track so nice. It was beautiful to ski.”
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U.S. teammate Paula Moltzan finished eighth. Defending slalom overall champion Zrinka Ljutić skied out on the first run after slipping on an edge and straddling a gate.
The women’s slalom was the final competition of a busy World Cup weekend at Copper Mountain. On Saturday, in the women’s giant slalom, New Zealand’s Alice Robinson won her fifth career World Cup title, making her the winningest women’s Alpine ski racer born outside Europe or North America, per FIS-ski.com.
“It’s always really special for me to represent New Zealand,” Robinson said, “especially in a sport like ski racing that’s so dominated by North America and Europe, so I’m really proud of that.”
Robinson won in a combined time of 1:58.91. Austria’s Julia Scheib took second, 0.96 back, with Norway’s Thea Louise Stjernesund in third, 1.08 off the pace. Nina O’Brien was the top American, finishing 11th. Shiffrin was 14th.
On Friday, 34-year-old Stefan Brennsteiner of Austria won the men’s giant slalom for his first career World Cup victory. Swiss star and race favorite Marco Odermatt fell on the first run and opened the door for the field, and Brennsteiner capitalized, winning in a combined time of 2:30.98.
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“It means a lot for me,” Brennsteiner said. “The last years were quite good, but I had tough times in my career.”
Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen was second, 0.95 seconds behind. Croatia’s Filip Zubčić was third, 1 second back.
A day earlier, Odermatt ruled the men’s super-G for his second World Cup triumph of the season, winning in 1:07.70. He edged Austria’s Vincent Kriechmayr by 0.08 seconds. Austrian Raphael Haaser was 0.13 back in third.
Odermatt, the most dominant men’s Alpine skier of the moment, now has 47 World Cup wins and has won the downhill, super-G, giant slalom and overall season titles two years running.
“You’re never done, you always have to continue with the hard work,” Odermatt said. “It’s just great that I can start the season like this.”
Thursday’s super-G was also notable for the return of Norwegian Aleksander Aamodt Kilde. The 21-time World Cup winner and 2020 overall season champion has been out since January 2024 after a hard crash and complications in his recovery.
But he was back Thursday, finishing tied for 24th and sharing an embrace with his fiancée, Shiffrin, after the race.
Three days later, Shiffrin continued to reestablish her grip on the slalom world. Her crash in a giant slalom in Killington, Vt., last Nov. 30 left her with a puncture wound and kept her out of competition for two months. She’s now won five slaloms since her return in January.
But the faster giant slalom discipline has posed a bigger mental and physical hurdle to clear. A 22-time World Cup winner in giant slalom, Shiffrin hasn’t made a podium since the injury. Her fourth-place finish in the season-opening giant slalom in Soelden, Austria, in October was her best result since January 2024.
The men return to action next weekend in Beaver Creek, Colorado, with downhill, super-G and giant slalom races. The women are at Tremblant in Quebec, Canada, for a pair of giant slaloms.
The first women’s downhill and super-G races of the season are scheduled for Dec. 12-14 in St. Moritz, Switzerland.
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Zack Pierce is the national managing editor for The Athletic. Before that, he was the managing editor for The Athletic’s Minnesota coverage. He spent over 10 years in various editorial capacities at FoxSports.com after a brief stint at ESPN.com. A Minnesota native, he co-founded the Trent Tucker Fan Club and refused to interact with society for several hours after the 1998 NFC Championship Game.