Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States and Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen were both victorious at their respective International Ski Federation (FIS) Alpine Skiing World Cup events on Sunday.
Shiffrin claimed her 27th career World Cup victory in the women’s slalom event in Maribor in Slovenia, with a combined time of 1min 39.61sec.
The American was quickest after the first run in a time of 49.84sec and was victorious despite falling to fourth in the second.
Switzerland’s Wendy Holdener finished second overall in 1:39.80, while Frida Hansdotter of Sweden completed the top three in 1:39.92.
As a result, Olympic slalom champion Shiffrin has now extended her lead at the top of the overall World Cup standings after her seventh race win of the season.
The 21-year-old collected 100 points in Slovenia and now has a 305 point advantage over Switzerland’s defending champion Lara Gut.
“When I was a kid, I dreamed about being the best in the world in all the different events, so it’s always a step in the right direction to be performing well in two, at least,” said Shiffrin, who has also tasted success in the giant slalom this season.
“It was really nice to ski.
“It was a quick course and the surface is awesome, so definitely fun.”
At the men’s World Cup action in Adelboden in Switzerland, Kristoffersen dominated both slalom runs to top the podium.
The 22-year-old Olympic bronze medalist was fastest in the first run in a time of 58.39sec before cementing his win in the second in 56.48sec to win with an overall time of 1:54.87.
Italian Manfred Moelgg finished second in 1:56.70 while Austria’s overall champion Marcel Hirscher completed the top three in 1:57.06.
“This was really good, really cool,” said a delighted Kristoffersen, the defending overall slalom champion.
“I had a bit of luck with the light in the first run, but I don’t think I had luck with the skiing.
“In the second run, even though it was tough, I still did really good.
“Today was an awesome day for sure.”
Despite trailing behind in third today, Hirscher still leads the World Cup on 893 points as he bids for a sixth overall crown in a row.
Frenchman Alexis Pinturault lies in second on 594 while Kristoffersen completes the top three with 592.
The men’s World Cup now moves to Wengen in Switzerland for an Alpine combined event on Friday (January 13), a downhill on Saturday (January 14) and another slalom on Sunday (January 15).
The women’s circuit heads to Flachau in Austria for slalom on Tuesday (January 10).
By Max Winters
Republished with permission from insidethegames.biz.