Can anyone stop Shiffrin in World Championship tech events?
Feb 15, 2023·Alpine Skiing
The simple answer to the headline question is, of course, yes. The slalom and giant slalom fields for the 2023 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships are absolutely stacked with great champions, in-form stars and proven performers.
But you would still have to be brave to bet against the American.
Shiffrin, who is on the verge of becoming the all-time most successful World Cup skier, has lined up 17 times for technical races so far this season – and won 10 of them. The accolades for the four-time slalom world champion are endless and mostly driven by her often seeming invincibility in the technical events.
But her shock slip three gates from home in the slalom leg of the Alpine combined in Courchevel Meribel, not to mention her rough ride at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Games (including three DNFs), will give her multiple rivals plenty of hope.
With the giant slalom starting at 09:45 local time on 16 February, and the slalom at 10:00 on 18 February, here’s a look at all those most likely to close out the biggest event of the year in style.
The Big Four
Mikaela Shiffrin (USA)
2023 World Championship form so far: AC: DSQ, SG: 2nd
2023 World Cup SL: 5 wins, 3x 2nd
2023 World Cup GS: 5 wins
World Championships: 2021 AC: 1st, GS: 2nd, SG & SL: 3rd; 2019 SG & SL: 1st, GS: 3rd; 2017 SL: 1st, GS: 2nd; 2015 SL: 1st; 2013 SL: 1st
Olympic Games: 2018 GS: 1st, AC: 2nd; 2014 SL: 1st
All eyes are always on the 27-year-old when she straps her skis on but the pressure will be particularly intense for Shiffrin when her favoured events begin. Given her remarkable form this season – not to mention throughout her career – anything other than double gold will be a shock. Giant slalom victory on Meribel’s Roc de Fer piste would complete the World-Olympic technical set.
Petra Vlhova (SVK)
2023 World Cup SL: 1 win, 4 podiums
2023 World Cup GS: 3 podiums, 4x 4th
World Championships: 2021 SL: 2nd, AC: 2nd; 2019 GS: 1st, AC: 2nd, SL: 3rd
Olympic Games: 2022 SL: 1st
Despite not being at her absolute best this season, Vlhova lies second in the overall World Cup standings, joint-second in slalom and fourth in GS. Focusing on just the technical events worked wonderfully for the Slovakian at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Games and it may well do the same for her here.
Wendy Holdener (SUI)
2023 World Championship form so far: AC: 2nd, TP: 5th
2023 World Cup SL: 2 wins, 2 podiums
World Championships: 2019 AC: 1st; 2017 AC: 1st, SL: 2nd
Olympic Games: 2022 AC: 2nd, SL: 3rd; 2018 SL: 2nd, AC: 3rd
Holdener may have had to endure 30 trips on to a World Cup slalom podium before finally finding herself on the top step, but having done it once earlier this season she quickly did it again. Among the most consistent major championship performers, and with an Alpine combined silver in her pocket already, Holdener is a huge threat.
Lara Gut-Behrami (SUI)
2023 World Championship form so far: AC: DNS, SG: 6th, DH: 9th
2023 World Cup GS: 1 win, 3 podiums
World Championships: 2021 SG & GS: 1st, DH: 3rd; 2017 SG: 3rd; 2015 DH: 3rd; 2013 SG: 2nd; 2009 DH & AC: 2nd
Olympic Games: 2022 SG: 1st, GS: 3rd; 2014 DH: 3rd
An eight-time world championship and three-time Olympic medallist, Gut-Behrami is firmly on the list of all-time greats. She looked superb at various stages of the Alpine combined and the super-G in Courchevel Meribel – could it all come good again in the GS for the evergreen Swiss star?
Ones to Watch
Marta Bassino (ITA)
2023 World Championship form so far: AC: DNF, SG: 1st
2023 World Cup GS: 1 win, 4 podiums
World Championships: 2021 Parallel: 1st
The Italian bounce in these championships has been unmistakable. Super-G champion Bassino just edges Alpine combined winner Federica Brignone as the racer most likely to extend the nation’s remarkable run when the pair line up in the GS.
Sara Hector (SWE)
2023 World Cup GS: 3 podiums
World Championships: best individual finish: 7th, GS, 2019
Olympic Games: 2022 GS: 1st
The Olympic champion came third in her most recent World Cup GS start and declared herself delighted to “be back”. Could she have got the timing just right?
Lena Duerr (GER)
2023 World Cup SL: 1 win, 3 podiums
World Championships: best individual finish: 11th, SL, 2019
Olympic Games: 2022 SL: 4th
The German finished 1-2-3 in her three World Cup slalom races leading up to these championships and is an undoubted medal contender in the closing event. Consistent – and this season finally a main event World Cup winner – this could be the German’s time.
In what has been, Shiffrin apart, an extremely tight tussle at the top of the slalom rankings, Duerr and Sweden’s Anna Swenn Larsson – the 2019 world championship slalom silver medallist – have been impressive.
Home hope
Tessa Worley (FRA)
2023 World Championship form so far: AC: DNS, SG: 9th
2023 World Cup GS: 6x top 10
World Championships: 2021 Parallel: 3rd; 2017 GS: 1st; 2013 GS: 1st; 2011 GS: 3rd
World Cup GS champion last season, the crowd will be desperate for the 33-year-old Worley to dig deep one more time. A GS hat-trick on home snow, anybody?
Bolt from the Blue
Paula Moltzan (USA)
2023 World Championship form so far: TP: 1st
2023 World Cup SL: 1 podium, 3x 5th, 1x 8th
2023 World Cup GS: 5x top 10
World Championships: 2021 Parallel slalom: 4th
Olympic Games: 2022 SL: 8th, GS: 12th
Shiffrin is not the USA’s only hope. Always fearless and relentlessly aggressive, Moltzan has added a streak of consistency this season, and has tasted championship success already in the team parallel. She lies sixth in the slalom standings and 10th in GS – enough to give her an outside chance of success.
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