Petra Vlhova dominates Levi slalom with Mikaela Shiffrin only fourth
Olympic champion Vlhova was 1.41 seconds clear of Lena Duerr as she won at the Finnish venue for the sixth time with Katharina Liensberger rounding out the podium.
Alpine Skiing
Olympic champion Petra Vlhova was a clear-cut winnner of the Levi slalom in Finland on Saturday (11 November).
The Slovakian star was fastest on both runs as she took victory in the first slalom of the 2023/24 alpine skiing World Cup season by a massive 1.41 seconds from Germany's Lena Duerr.
Katharina Liensberger of Austria produced a fine second run to move above Mikaela Shiffrin and take the final spot on the podium.
Vlhova held an advantage of 0.18 after the first run, and she was sensational on the second as she clocked a time more than half a second faster than the rest of the field led by Liensberger.
The 28-year-old told FIS afterwards, "I'm really happy. Honestly, I didn't expect so much of a gap between me and Lena and Katharina but I feel good. I'm enjoying skiing and I feel confident.
"Before the race I was a little bit under stress because you don't know where you are but, at the end, I won again here and it's amazing."
Vlhova is now level with Shiffrin on six career Levi slalom wins with both women in the running for triumph number seven - and a seventh reindeer - on Sunday.
Levi, FIS World Cup: Results of women's slalom on Saturday 11 November 2023 (Top 10):
- Petra Vlhova (SVK) 1:50.59
- Lena Duerr (GER) +1.41
- Katharina Liensberger (AUT) +1.55
- Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) +1.70
- Sara Hector (SWE) +2.60
- Ali Nullmeyer (CAN) +2.97
- Melanie Meillard (SUI) +2.99
- Katharina Huber (AUT) +3.15
- Zrinka Ljutic (CRO) +3.17
- Leona Popovic (CRO) +3.30