Shiffrin dominates World Cup slalom race in Austria for 93rd career win
American finishes with 2.34-second edge over 2nd; Nullmeyer top Canadian in 11th
Mikaela Shiffrin always seems to raise the bar even further when it's the last World Cup race of the year.
The American star finished 2023 with an eye-catching performance even by her standards, winning a slalom race by a huge margin of 2.34 seconds on Friday for her 93rd career victory.
It was Shiffrin's seventh victory out of her last eight starts in the traditional year-ending slalom, which alternates between the Austrian resorts of Lienz and Semmering.
"The last couple of years, we really built from the beginning of the season to this point, and somehow it clicks, I guess," said Shiffrin, who missed this race in 2015 with a knee injury, and in 2021 after testing positive for the coronavirus.
WATCH | Shiffrin soars to victory:
However, there's no secret to her peaking between Christmas and New Year.
"In skiing, it's always just like: be relentless with the work, do the job," the American five-time overall World Cup champion said.
Shiffrin posted the fastest times by far in both runs on the Schlossberg course to finish ahead of runner-up Lena Duerr of Germany. Swiss skier Michelle Gisin was 0.11 further back in third.
Friday's result was the seventh-biggest winning margin ever in a women's World Cup slalom. Shiffrin set four of those other marks, including the record of 3.07 seconds from a race in Aspen, Colorado, in November 2015.
Shiffrin's main rival in slalom, Olympic champion Petra Vlhova, finished 3.24 seconds behind in fifth. The Slovakian had beaten Shiffrin in a night slalom in France last week.
Seeking a record-extending 56th career win from 107 starts in slalom, Shiffrin dominated the opening run and positioned herself for a second win in two days.
Shiffrin also carved out a big lead in Thursday's GS, when she used a rather conservative second run to secure her record-extending 92nd career win. But there was no holding back in the afternoon this time, despite the packed schedule this week.
"It's definitely a push today," Shiffrin said after the first run. "I took the last four days of training and then straight to the race yesterday, and so I knew today would be six days in a row, it was going to be maybe a little bit tiring. But I wanted to feel comfortable with the skiing."
Toronto's Ali Nullmeyer was the top Canadian, placing 11th and 3.51 seconds behind Shiffrin. Amelia Smart of Invermere, B.C., finished 3.93 seconds behind the American to slot 14th.
The women's World Cup continues with a GS and a slalom in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, on Jan. 6-7.
With files from CBC Sports
