Wendy Holdener and Anna Swenn Larsson tie in Killington World Cup slalom with Mikaela Shiffrin fifth
Swiss Holdener and Swenn Larsson from Sweden both claimed maiden World Cup slalom wins with Austria's Katharina Truppe in third place.
Alpine Skiing
The third slalom World Cup of the season saw a dramatic tie between Wendy Holdener and Anna Swenn Larsson at Killington on Sunday (27 November).
For Switzerland's two-time alpine combined world champion Holdener, this was a first World Cup slalom triumph in 13 seasons on tour.
For the 31-year-old Swede, this was a long-awaited first individual win in the premier alpine skiing competition.
In a joint interview post race, Holdener said: "I gave it my all. To be tied first was such a relief and, at the end, it’s perfect – now we can share our first win together."
A teary Swenn Larsson, her arms around the Swiss, was almost speechless. "I don’t know what to say. I’m happy, it's a dream come true. I have lots of emotions and I'm super happy."
Austria's Katharina Truppe (+0.22s) finished the first run in eighth but climbed five places to finish third. Slovakia's Olympic champion Petra Vlhova (+0.44s), who has two third places so far this season, finished off the podium this time in fourth.
Home favourite Mikaela Shiffrin, who won the first two rounds in Levi, Finland, led after the first run but found trouble midway down her second descent, ending up in fifth place 0.59s off the pace.
The five-time champion here, who was cheered on enthusiastically by the home crowd, had announced pre-race that she would not be heading to Lake Louise next weekend for the downhill events, instead concentrating on the slalom disciplines.
First down the track in the second run, Franziska Gritsch, watched 21 skiers come and go before Norway's Maria Therese Tviberg finally took the lead from the Austrian. Slovenia's Ana Bucik also topped Gritsch, coming in seventh with Tviberg sixth. Gritsch finished in eighth place.
Reigning slalom world champion Katharina Liensberger failed to make it down the second run after lying third at midway.
Women’s Alpine skiing World Cup slalom results – Killington:
1= Anna Swenn Larsson (SWE) 1:42.97
1= Wendy Holdener (SUI) 1:42.97
3 Katharina Truppe (AUT) 1:43.19
4 Petra Vlhova (SVK) 1:43.41
5 Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) 1:43.56
6 Maria Therese Tviberg (NOR) 1:43.66
7 Ana Bucik (SLO) 1:43.68
8 Franziska Gritsch (AUT) 1:43.70
9 Leona Popovic (CRO) 1:43.86
10 Sara Hector (SWE) 1:44.07
For full results, see here.