Shiffrin Crowned Diamond Fox in Kranjska Gora
There isn’t much left to say about Mikaela Shiffrin. In fact, it seems there are not enough adjectives to describe her skiing as of late. Dominant doesn’t quite capture just how, well, dominant she has been this season. Ten wins in four different disciplines so far and we’re just now at the halfway point of the year. So, yeah, she’s pretty dominant.
Perhaps we need a new thesaurus.
The 54th running of the Golden Fox Trophy in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, was once again the Shiffrin show as the American took both giant slalom and slalom races with a 1.64 second victory in Sunday’s slalom.
With her two wins, Shiffrin also collected the Golden Fox Trophy as combined winner as well as taking home the coveted Diamond Fox Trophy that goes to a racer that wins the Golden Fox either twice consecutively or three times non-consecutively in her career. Sunday was Shiffrin’s third Golden Fox and second in a row.
“I didn’t know they gave out that award,” Shiffrin said after the race. “There’s always a new one. It’s really incredible to be the Golden Fox again. That one is definitely important to me. Not the award, but to be the best performer in the GS and the slalom through the weekend is just really cool. I’m proud of that.”
Saturday’s rain gave way to cold temperatures overnight, which made the surface rock-hard for the women on Sunday morning. Where the field faltered, Shiffrin powered her way to a commanding 1.47 second lead after the first run over runner-up, Frida Hansdotter of Sweden.
“If you’re aggressive and on the outside ski then it doesn’t matter what the conditions are,” Shiffrin said. “It’s a similar sort of tactics, same mentality, I’m just going out of the gate with confidence and being really aggressive. So far it’s been working.”
Third place went to Swiss star Wendy Holdener, who captured her fourth slalom podium of the year despite not feeling her best on Sunday.
“It was a tough race for me because I wasn’t on a high level like the other races, I was a little bit tired,” she shared. “I didn’t feel great so I am really happy with the day and another podium.”
Holdener was not feeling her best on Sunday. Image Credit: GEPA pictures/ Matic Klansek
For the rest of the American contingent, Resi Stiegler straddled in the first run after posting an encouraging intermediate time and Nina O’Brien and Lila Lapanja both failed to qualify for a second run.
The women now head to Flachau, Austria, for a night slalom on Tuesday, Jan. 9. Hansdotter and Holdener will no doubt be eager to have another shot at besting Shiffrin on a hill that the American has had a love-hate relationship with. She has finished third in the last two races she has competed in at the venue. Hansdotter in particular will be out for blood as the Swede is the defending champion in Flachau and is keen to once again take the top step of the podium.
“I love Flachau,” Hansdotter said. “It’s been my best hill so far and I have a lot of podiums there and victories so for sure I will go there with a good feeling. Hopefully, I can ski a little bit faster and more solid and try to be a little bit closer to Mikaela or even beat her.”
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Top 10
- Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) – Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
- Frida Hansdotter (SWE) – Rossignol/Rossignol/Look
- Wendy Holdener (SUI) – Head/Head/Head
- Petra Vlhova (SVK) – Rossignol/Rossignol/Look
- Bernadette Schild (AUT) – Head/Head/Head
- Melanie Meillard (SUI) – Rossignol/Rossignol/Look
- Christina Geiger (GER) – Rossignol/Rossignol/Look
- Estelle Alphand (SWE) – Rossignol/Rossignol/Look
- Nina Haver-Loeseth (NOR) – Rossignol/Rossignol/Look
- Anna Swenn-Larsson (SWE) – Head/Head/Head
Posted from SkiRacing.com
