'It's amazing to do this': Shiffrin wins Killington slalom for 90th World Cup victory
Dec 01, 2023·Alpine Skiing
On the Superstar slalom course in Killington in the U.S. state of Vermont, it was only fitting that the local superstar everyone came to watch delivered — again.
Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) moved into unchartered territory as the first Alpine skier to reach 90 World Cup wins on Sunday, producing another masterclass to claim her sixth slalom victory in seven attempts at the resort near where she grew up.
In winning both runs in front of an adoring crowd, Shiffrin powered to her 55th World Cup slalom triumph ahead of her main rival Petra Vlhova (SVK, +0.33s), with Wendy Holdener (SUI, +1.37s) a distant third.
"It's amazing to do this, specifically here with the home crowd," said Shiffrin, who hails from Colorado but spent five years of her childhood living not far from Killington in New Hampshire, and later attended Burke Mountain Academy in Vermont.
"It's just such a good vibe and there's just a little extra, not pressure, but a little extra intensity."
That crowd intensity helped drive her down the steep pitch at the bottom of the course into the finish area, where the normally reserved star pumped her fist multiple times in delight.
After Shiffrin was fortunate to claim her last slalom triumph in Levi earlier this month when Vlhova straddled and threw away what seemed like a certain victory, there was no doubting that the American was a deserving winner this time.
"Today I earned it in a way," Shiffrin said. "After the victory in Finland I didn't dare to hope that this would happen here because Petra was skiing so fast and she's so consistent."
Although Vlhova threw down the gauntlet with a scintillating second run, Shiffrin topped it to confirm a familiar result: it's the fifth time she has pushed the Slovakian into the runner-up spot in Killington.
"At the end, second place again here," Vlhova said.
"The second run, I needed to push if I wanted to be on the top. When I crossed the finish line, I thought maybe it can be enough but Mikaela was stronger."
A year after her drought-breaking first World Cup slalom win on this piste, Holdener was fortunate to reach the podium after she lost her balance and almost skied out on the very first gate of the second run.
"Today I was really tense," Holdener admitted. "I was more nervous on the second run than the first, but happy that I made it.
"I have a lot of great memories in Killington. I had some amazing races, my first World Cup (slalom) victory. I love to come back, I love to race with the crazy crowd."
Holdener pushed Lena Duerr (GER) off the slalom podium for the first time this season as the German fell from second after the first run to finish fourth, while unheralded Italian Marta Rossetti (ITA) produced a career-best World Cup result of fifth.
Skiing with a bib number of 32, the 24-year-old Rossetti put down a spectacular second run — faster than all comers except Shiffrin and Vlhova and within a tenth of a second of both of them — to easily top her previous personal best of 11th.
But the day belonged to Shiffrin, who doesn't chase individual race victories as a specific goal but nevertheless joined — and, in fact, created — the 90-win club.
"That's sort of cool because I've never really been in a club," she said.
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