Mikaela Shiffrin captured a record-extending 94th Alpine skiing World Cup win in a floodlit night slalom in Flachau, Austria, on Tuesday.
"I'm really proud of this evening and very thankful for my whole team," said Shiffrin after reducing a deficit of 0.07 seconds to beat Slovakia's Petra Vlhova by 0.27 seconds and secure her fifth career win in Flachau. Sweden's Olympic giant slalom champion Sara Hector finished third to make the World Cup slalom podium for the first time.
L-R: Petra Vlhova, Mikaela Shiffrin, and Sara Hector celebrate at the ceremony of FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Women's Slalom in Flachau, Austria, January 16, 2024. /CFP
The American had missed weekend races in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee due to illness and then made a trip to Switzerland when partner Aleksander Aamodt-Kilde was airlifted to hospital after crashing in the Wengen downhill on Saturday.
"These last days have been very challenging. They've been so supportive and helped me go see Aleks.
"The last three days I feel like I lived a lifetime," added the overall World Cup leader.
The was Shiffrin's record-extending 57th World Cup win in slalom, as she now leads the standings in the discipline by 25 points. Shiffrin and Vlhova have won all the slaloms so far this season and 13 of the last 14.
Shiffrin also tied Ingemar Stenmark's record of 81 slalom podiums with her sixth win of the season.
The next races this weekend are on home snow for Vlhova in the Slovakian resort of Jasna.
(With input from Reuters)