Mikaela Shiffrin denies Petra Vlhova home win in Jasna slalom

Mikaela Shiffrin produced a blistering second run in Jasna to claim her 45th Alpine Ski World Cup slalom victory on Saturday (6 March).

The two-time Olympic champion trailed Petra Vlhova after the first run, but finished 0.34s ahead of the home favourite with Wendy Holdener third a further 0.18s adrift.

Born 20 minutes from Jasna, Vlhova went all out on the hill where she learned to ski.

She led Shiffrin by 0.27s at the midway point with Holdener a further 0.13s back.

But the American was simply flawless on her second descent and said she was delighted with her ski afterwards.

She told FIS: "That was a really big step. I kept pushing and that's the feeling I want to have. Today it was good enough to win, sometimes it's not, but that's the feeling, that's the fight.

"I felt it after my run even before Petra came down. I didn't know what she was going to do and maybe she can do something greater, but it was a really good fight for me and that's a pretty nice feeling to have now."

Shiffrin is now just 45 points behind Vlhova in the World Cup slalom standings with three races to go.

With her 80 points for second place, the Slovak star has closed the gap to World Cup overall leader Lara Gut-Behrami to 107 points.

Holdener now has 26 World Cup podium finishes to her name but is still seeking that elusive first win.

New world champion Katharina Liensberger finished fourth (+1.42s) after her double gold at the Cortina d'Ampezzo World Championships in February.

Two weeks ago, Liensberger became the first woman to beat four-time winner Shiffrin in the slalom at the Worlds.

Shiffrin took bronze in the slalom and the Super-G in addition to her Super Combined gold and Giant Slalom silver in Cortina.

"It's not like they're throwing snowballs at me" - Shiffrin

While this event is usually thronged with a loud and lively crowd, today it was just Vlhova's team and course staff that cheered on Slovakia's home hero, making big noise for a small group.

There was a great groan as Vlhova's lights went red at the finish line having flashed green for much of her second run.

But despite defeating the local favourite, Shiffrin said she didn't feel any negative vibes in Jasna.

"The people here are still kind," the American told FIS, "They want her to win, I know that. But it's not like they're throwing snowballs at me or something!

"They want to see the good skiing and they prefer her to be on top, but this is how it was today and I feel pretty amazing about it."

Vlhova will have another chance to claim a first win on home snow in tomorrow's Giant Slalom, but Shiffrin will be out to spoil the party once more.

Stay with Olympic Channel for all the results and reaction.