Shiffrin slays Killington slalom for home snow victory

Defending Audi FIS World Cup Overall champion Mikaela Shiffrin battled challenging visibility and course conditions to win her second slalom race of the season, this time in front of her home crowd of 15,000 roaring fans at Killington (USA). She skied the fastest first run down the Superstar trail and was able to hold on in the second for the win despite a hard charge by Slovakia's Petra Vlhova, who ultimately finished second, and Sweden's Frida Hansdotter, who finished third.

Fog and light mist on the lower portion of the course in the first run made for difficult visibility and contributed to 16 athletes failing to make it to the finish line. Shiffrin was poised in first place followed by Bernadette Schild of Austria 0.29 seconds back and Vlhova and Hansdotter tied for third at 0.54 seconds off the lead. Shiffrin ultimately bettered Vlhova by 0.57 seconds once the dust settled, and Schild had to settle for fourth place on the day.

Shiffrin was visibly moved by her success following the second run and thanked the crowd with an emotional remark.

Due to the difficult conditions, a number of athletes from outside the top 30 battled into the second run for impressive finishes including Norway's Kristin Lysdahl who ended up 16th with bib 50, Switzerland's Elena Stoffel in 20th with bib 55, and New Zealand's Piera Hudson in 26th with bib 59, among others.

Shiffrin has two slalom wins and a giant slalom podium as she moves on to Lake Louise to kick off the ladies' speed season. She holds a 40-point lead over Vlhova in the slalom standings and a 114-point lead over the Slovakian in the Overall standings as well.