Industry News
Following yesterday’s Giant Slalom at Jasna, Slovakia, was the Slalom race today, January 21, 2024. The Slalom race was won by U.S. ski racer Mikaela Shiffrin, second place went to Zrinka Ljutic from Croatia, while third place went to Anna Swenn Larsson from Sweden. Similar to yesterday’s Giant Slalom race, a lot of skiers struggled with the race course at Jasna, and a total of 20 skiers ended the day with a DNF next to their name, including U.S. ski racer AJ Hurt and Croatia’s Leona Popovic.
Run 1
Anna Swenn Larsson set the pace this morning in Slovakia with bib 1 on Sunday with a solid run of 54.29 seconds.
Team USA’s Mikaela Shiffrin in bib 5 catapulted herself into the lead on run 1 with the next-best skier, Croatia’s Zrinka Ljutic 0.52 seconds behind the American in second place. Ljutic is only 19 years old, having debuted on the World Cup stage at only 16 in December 2020, and is coached by her own father.
Third on run 1 was Switzerland’s Melanie Meillard, relegating Sweden’s Sara Hector and Swenn Larsson to fourth and fifth place respectively, while her teammates Michelle Gisin and Camille Rast sat in seventh and eighth place.
U.S. ski racer Paula Moltzan finished run 1 in 14th place with teammate AJ hurt just two spots further down in 16th place, and Lila Lapanja in 24th place.
Canadian ski racer Laurence St-Germain finished Run 1 in 18th and Ali Nullmeyer in 25th place, while Amelia Smart finished outside the top 30 that qualify for run 2 in 35th place.
Run 2
Run 2 is conducted in reverse order, meaning the fastest skiers of run 1 go last, which makes Slalom races nail-biting to the very end.
The race was off to an interesting start, with Germany’s Emma Aicher first out of the gates, setting the pace with 56.13 seconds for run 2 or 1:52.61 minutes combined. She was promptly eclipsed by Austria’s Katharina Huber who shot into the lead more than a second ahead of the German with 1:51.07 minutes. Huber held the lead for several runners until she was unseated by the 11th starter, Slovakia’s Neja Dvornik. The 23-year-old skier sat in the victor’s seat for another nine skiers, much to the joy of the Slovakian crowd, who were missing their national hero Petra Vlhova, who is out for the season with an injury after crashing the day before during the Giant Slalom race. 20th starter Dzenifera Germane from Latvia snatched the lead from Dvornik. The 20-year-old has shown some incredible skiing so far this season, which is only the second World Cup season of her budding career. She finished the race in overall eighth which is a career best for the Latvian.
U.S. skier Lila Lapanja finished the race in 27th place, dropping a few places from run 1 but earning her the first World Cup points in three years, while AJ Hurt came into the last pitch with some serious speed but was unable to hang on to her edge and slid out of the course. Like Lapanja, Paula Moltzan also could not defend her position in the top 30 and dropped to 18th place overall after run 2.
Then it was down to the top 10 from run 1 and all eyes were on Lena Dürr, who is currently ranked third in Slalom racing behind Shiffrin and Vlhova. The German had been struggling on the course in Jasna but put down a fast second run, taking the lead from the Latvian. France’s Camille Lamure could not unseat her and neither could Austria’s Katharina Truppe, but then came Switzerland’s Camille Rast, who put down the fastest second run of the day with 54.65 seconds, which gave her the lead of more than a second ahead of Dürr. Teammate Michelle Gisin could not match that speed. However, Sweden’s Anna Swenn Larsson, the fifth last starter, edged out a lead of 0.09 seconds on the Swiss skier which her teammate Sara Hector, who had won the Giant Slalom the day before, could not beat.
Then it was down to the last three, fastest women. Switzerland’s Melanie Meillard could not beat the Swede nor best her teammate Rast, finishing in overall fifth. Following her was Zrinka Ljutic. The Croatian teenager put down another very fast run, catapulting her into the lead 0.67 seconds ahead of Swenn Larsson.
”It feels great, I’m really happy and proud of myself for putting down two really good runs. I’ve been able to manage the pressure in the second one. There was a great atmosphere, this is probably my favorite race.”
— Zrinka Ljutic
Then it was Mikaela Shiffrin’s turn. The American went into run 2 with a 0.52-second lead on Ljutic, but her lead quickly evaporated, and at one stage was as little as 0.02 seconds but remarkably Shiffrin managed to retain 100% of her momentum into the finish and crossed the line 0.14 seconds ahead of the Croatian.
“Today it was definitely a big push to keep all my energy going all the way through the second run. I knew she (Ljutic) put down an amazing run and I had to push,” — Mikaela Shiffrin
Although Ljutic narrowly missed out on her first career victory, it is still a personal best for the 19-year-old and only her second career World Cup podium, having come third last year in Czechia.
Meanwhile, Shiffrin became the second Alpine skier ever to reach 150 World Cup podiums, five short of Ingemar Stenmark’s record of 155 podiums, while beating the Swedish champion for his record of Slalom podiums with her record-setting 82nd slalom podium. It also marks Shiffrin’s 95th World Cup victory.
