Alpine skiing World Cup: Petra Vlhova notches first win of season in Flachau; Mikaela Shiffrin's record will have to wait
Beijing Olympic champ Vlhova prevented Shiffrin from taking a historic 83rd World Cup win
Alpine Skiing
Beijing 2022 Olympic slalom champion Petra Vlhova of Slovakia earned her first World Cup win of the 2022-23 season Tuesday (10 January) at the World Cup in Flachau, Austria. The win means American Mikaela Shiffrin's quest to put her name in the history books as the most successful women's alpine skier in World Cup racing will have to continue.
Vlhova clocked 1:51.95 in her two slalom runs. Shiffrin was .26 back (1:52.38), with Germany's Lena Duerr in third (1:52.80).
"I am really happy because it was a long, long way to come back here and be speaking with you, so for me, it's an amazing day," said Vlhova, who, this season, has had seven prior podium finishes but no wins. "I'm super happy to win here because it's something special."
On Sunday (8 January), Shiffrin tied her compatriot Lindsey Vonn for most World Cup wins by a female after clinching her 82nd career victory at the giant slalom race in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia. Only Ingemar Stenmark (86) sits ahead of Vonn and Shiffrin all-time.
Shiffrin has competed 10 times on the Flachau track named after Austrian legend Hermann Maier, stepping on the podium in nine occasions for a total of four wins (her last win on the course came in January 2021). Tuesday's second place finish is her 130th career World Cup podium.
This season, Shiffrin is seeking a fifth overall crown which would put her second on the all-time winner's list behind Austria's Annemarie Moser-Pröll who has six titles to her name.
The 27-year-old currently tops the overall World Cup standings with 1195 points, a whopping 399 points ahead of Vlhova. She's been red hot in the 2022-23 season, recording eight wins since 19 November.
She'll hit the slopes next at the World Cup in Cortina, Italy, scheduled for 20-22 January.
Shiffrin: 'I definitely don't feel like I have a deadline.'
Despite the spotlight that Shiffrin's record chase has brought, the skier herself isn't focused on the quest. In a media availablity prior to races in Flachau, the veteran skier joked that she can't predict the future better than anyone else.
"This season is different though, because of where I am with the records. There is so much more expectation that I will win," she explained. "It's just the constant question of, 'So, when are you going to get 82?' I'm like, 'Hell if I know!' 'When are you going to get 83? Is it going to be today?' Like, I don't know any more than you do."
Instead, Shiffrin has learned throughout her career that she does her best work when she minimizes the pressure.
"Like when I go into races with really minimal expectations and then it works really well, and then, I go into the next race and I still don't have expection... It's like every race, I think it's a dream and it's not going to happen again," said Shiffrin prior to her race in Flachau. "So, I sort of don't worry if I'm going to win again and that season."
With the chase for 83 wins and more records on the horizon, Shiffrin is far from complacent about what those accomplishes would mean - but even if she reaches those heights, she has no plans of stopping there.
"Someone asked like, 'Are you going to just feel so happy once you get 86 or 87? Because it'll just be like, "Oh, finally I got that over with,"'" recalled Shiffrin. "I was like, 'I hope not. That's something to be celebrated. I hope I don't feel relieved if I win 86 World Cup races because that is that [expletive] is hard to do.'
"And if I feel relieved," she continued, "then, I think there is some bad karma coming my way."
FIS World Cup Flachau 2022 - women's slalom results
1. Petra Vlhova, SVK, 1:51.95
2. Mikaela Shiffrin, USA, 1:52.38
3. Lena Duerr, GER, 1:52.80
4. Wendy Holdener, SUI, 1:53.49
5. Paula Moltzan, USA, 1:54.10
6. Katharina Liensberger, AUT, 1:54:57
7. Hanna Aronsson Elfman, SWE, 1:54.69
8. Jessica Hilzinger, GER, 1:54.76
9. Emma Aicher, GER, 1:55:06
10. Thea Louise Stjernesund, NOR, 1:55.12