Shiffrin, Holdener, Hansdotter claim Lienz slalom podium

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The seemingly unstoppable Mikaela Shiffrin won her third race in a row and second slalom of the season at Lienz, Austria, after skiing an impeccable first run down the Schlossberg. Leading the field by 1.14 seconds after the first run, the American held it together through deteriorating conditions to take her 27th slalom victory and first win in Lienz by 0.86 seconds.

Wendy Holdener of Switzerland gave the closest chase in second place after an attacking second run. She also finished second in Lienz the last time a World Cup slalom was held at the site in 2015.

Frida Hansdotter of Sweden, the winner of the last Lienz World Cup slalom race two years ago, collected her first podium in this Olympic season with a third-place finish. Her teammate Estelle Alphand, who formerly represented France but switched to compete for Sweden this season, scored a career-best finish in fifth after skiing the fastest second run and holding down the Audi leader seat through 17 subsequent challengers.