Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) declared that it was “hammer time” earlier this week – and the first blow of the season was struck for the slalom superstar on Saturday in Finland.
Shiffrin demolished the competition, showing a bulletproof combination of physical strength and mental fortitude to notch up her 98th Audi FIS World Cup win, her 61st title in slalom, and a record eighth triumph on the Finnish slope.
She established a +0.60 second lead after the first run with a precise, dynamic performance. If there were any nerves about blowing a leading position, as she had done in the season opening weekend in Sölden, they were not evident.
On an inconsistent piste that affected the confidence of many skiers, Shiffrin made some hellishly difficult sections – that twisted the likes of Zrinka Ljutic (CRO) out of position – look simple.
Katharina Liensberger (AUT) was the only other athlete to ski with such smoothness: she put in a beautifully balanced run to come second (+0.79 seconds behind).
Lena Duerr (GER), improving with each season, battled the piste and made great recoveries to finish in third place (+0.83).
Despite going hard out the gate and never looking in trouble, Shiffrin didn’t find it easy. “It was a little bumpy, I was getting twisted sometimes, but you keep fighting,” she said. “It wasn’t the perfect tempo, but I had enough really good turns that it worked really well. In the end it was a really solid run in conditions that were not so easy.
“I will always find something [to improve on]. There were some turns I was missing, tripping on the tracks a little bit. But it is an amazing way to start the slalom season, I am super happy.”
She feels the performance banishes any mental doubts. “I was a bit off with my mentality in Sölden. So it was important to start in a good place with slalom. It was important to find my mentality.
“The most important thing is that from this weekend I’m racing every single weekend until the World Cup finals, it’s going to be busy. So it’s going to be a big push.
The most challenging thing is, we’re skiing slalom in Gurgl, there is not a lot of opportunity for GS training, then there are three GS races coming up in the next two and a half weeks. So it’s important to think about the timing, and balance both.”
Shiffrin said that her longstanding slalom rival Petra Vlhova (SVK) played a part today despite her absence with injury.
“I am thinking about her quite a lot. She skis this hill so wonderfully, I’m imagining what she does and am trying to do it myself. I’m feeling Petra’s absence.”
Shiffrin acquires her eighth reindeer, the traditional prize for victory at Levi. She doesn’t yet have a moniker for the new addition.
“Oh my goodness, the reindeer, you never forget,” she said. “It’s not good karma for me to think about the name before the race. It’s always the same, I’m going to wait and confer with the team, and see what everybody says.”
This win also moves Shiffrin up another ‘all time’ list. With eight Levi wins, she now has the second-most wins at a single venue. Lindsey Vonn’s 14 downhill victories at Lake Louise looks unassailable, however.
Liensberger also loves Levi, clocking up her fourth podium in Finland. She put down two accurate, clean and powerful runs, to also belie the conditions.
“It’s amazing to start the season like this, it’s really great to race here in Levi as always,” she said. “It’s the first race of the season and it was not easy. The track was a little bit bumpy, but I felt good. I just wanted to go fast, it’s amazing to be here. I’m really looking forward to the next races. It was super fun.
Shiffrin was full of praise. “Katarina just killed it. It’s so cool to see her back on the podium, skiing like that.”
Duerr, meanwhile, was also smooth and relaxed for most of her runs, but was slowed slightly by some mid-section wobbles.
“The race was super fun, as always,” she said. “The last years at Levi were super nice for me, and today I again got on the podium. I’m a little bit relieved. I’m looking forward to the next weeks, they will be stressful but fun.”
Shiffrin remains on target to possibly win her 100th title on home snow in Killington. The women’s slalom season continues next Saturday, 23 November, in Gurgl, Austria.
