Alpine skiing World Cup 23/24: Petra Vlhova battles difficult conditions to claim Kranjska Gora slalom, Shiffrin out after first-run straddle - Results
Poor weather and snow conditions wreaked havoc as the first-run leaders struggled before Vlhova stamped her mark on the Podkoren.
Alpine Skiing
Petra Vlhova achieved a hard-fought victory at the FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup Kranjska Gora slalom in Slovenia on Sunday (7 January 2024) in treacherous circumstances.
Difficult snowy and foggy conditions continued in Slovenia after Saturday's rain, with Mikaela Shiffrin among those caught out. The American favourite, who has won three slaloms this season, straddled a gate early on into her first run, ending her weekend prematurely.
The wet snow cut up quickly in the second run, with conditions continuing to deteriorate throughout. The early starters – who had just about made the top-30 cut in the first run with relatively high bib numbers – had more joy than the first-run leaders.
Indeed, Shiffrin's American teammate AJ Hurt – 16th after the first leg and wearing bib number 38 – posted the fastest second-run time and sat in the lead for 13 further racers until Lena Duerr and Vlhova overtook her with the last two descents of the day.
Vlhova was magnificent where others weren't, finding an incredible extra three-tenths on Duerr in the last sector of the track where everyone else had lost chunks of time. Ultimately, her first-run lead of over two seconds on Hurt helped ensure her place at the top of the podium.
The Slovak's combined winning time was 1:47.62, 0.72 seconds ahead of Duerr and a further 0.15 seconds clear of Hurt who secured her first career World Cup podium placing.
Notably, France's Chiara Pogneaux, 24th after the first run with bib number 37, recorded her first career World Cup top-10 finish in any discipline. Latvia's Dzenifera Germane (bib 48) was 12th in just her third World Cup race, while Italian-born Albanian 17-year-old Lara Colturi (bib 55) was just shy of her best finish in 13th.
"I am really happy and proud because it was really tough conditions, especially the second run, from the first gate to the finish, was a big fight," Vlhova said of her third Kranjska Gora slalom win.
"I just tried to ski as I know, I knew that conditions were going to be hard and I just pushed as hard as I could. When I crossed the finish line and saw the green light, it was just an explosion (of emotions) because it's something different to win in front of many Slovak fans."
The women's World Cup tour now heads to Zauchensee, Austria, next weekend for three speed races.
Kranjska Gora, FIS World Cup: Results of women's slalom on Sunday 7 January 2024 (top 10)
- Petra Vlhova (SVK) 1:47.62
- Lena Duerr (GER) +0.72
- AJ Hurt (USA) +0.87
- Camille Rast (FRA) +1.17
- Paula Moltzan (USA) +1.23
- Sara Hector (SWE) +1.38
- Katharina Liensberger (AUT) +1.53
- Chiara Pogneaux (FRA) +1.68
- Katharina Huber (AUT) +1.76
- Michelle Gisin (SUI) +1.96