Alpine Skiing: Crans Montana Slalom Crowns Mikaela Shiffrin

The Slalom in Maribor which was canceled on the 31st of January was rescheduled today in Crans Montana, the first Slalom on the World Cup since a month.

1st Run

We found a calm and focused Mikaela Shiffrin in the starting gate. The young American racer stayed calm on her skis, tracing beautiful and short turning sections. She especially managed to ski an amazing low part of the track, where she finally was decidedly the quickest. She proposed us a top quality first run for her comeback setting the pace at 42.80 seconds.

The red bib holder was in the second place. Frida Hansdotter stayed concentrated and calm on her skis. She found the right balance between commitment and smoothness to set a great first run time in order to get another podium this season.

Veronika Velez Zuzulova finished with the 3rd time of the 1st run. The Slovakian had terrific top and medium sections, having a great advantage before the low part. She finally couldn’t compete with Mikaela Shiffrin on the last part of the slope but finished with a good time which allowed her to be well-placed in order to the second run.

Both home stars Michelle Gisin and Wendy Holdener signed a provisional top 10. Michelle Gisin finished 5th with a smooth and committed run while Wendy Holdener finished 9th, finishing with two huge faults in the high and medium sections. The young Swiss racer kept on attacking and finished many times unbalanced.

2nd Run

The Slovenian girls had great performances in Crans Montana. Ana Bucik and Marusa Ferk both showed great skills on the slope and envyed to do well. They led the way, particularly happy and demonstrative in the Kiss and Cry.

The Austrian Team also impressed. Carmen Thalmann kept a good speed all day long, skiing a solid slalom. Then it was Bernadette Schild's time to shine. Marlies Schild's little sister took the lead by three quarters of second. It has been a long time since the young Austrian skied such a sensational run.

Marie-Michèle Gagnon finished in the third place. The Canadian racer stayed smooth, managing to keep attacking without loosing speed. She knew she could make a great result as she stated on her Twitter yesterday. "Ok people, Maribor slalom was replaced and now we are racing in Crans Montana tomorrow. Watch out for @erinmielzynski bib 8 and bib 10 (me!)." Erin Mielzynski didn’t make it, being out after a few gates of the second run but Gagnon definitely knew she had the quality to make a podium here.

This was her 3rd World Cup podium. Nastasia Noens was eager to climb onto the podium after several good results this season. She showed determination, skiing perfectly especially on the low section of the course.

Mikaela Shiffrin takes her 18th World Cup, her 3rd this season. The young American racer comes back on tour in the best way possible. This is a huge performance as she just came back on tour from an injury that kept her away from the World Cup for more than two months.