Shiffrin Boosts Slalom Lead in Moscow

MOSCOW, Russia (Jan. 29) - Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, CO) boosted her Audi FIS Alpine World Cup slalom lead to 33 points over top challenger Tina Maze of Slovenia with third in the Moscow City Event. World Cup overall and slalom leader Marcel Hirscher of Austria captured the men's victory while German Lena Duerr captured her first World Cup with the women's win. It was the final competition before the FIS Alpine Ski World Championships open on Feb. 4 in Schladming, Austria.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, CO) finished third in the Moscow parallel slalom to boost her Audi FIS Alpine World Cup slalom lead to 33 points over Tina Maze of Slovenia.
• David Chodounsky (Crested Butte, CO) overcame a .50 second defecit to Italian Manfred Moelgg to make the quarter final and earn 40 World Cup slalom points to jump to 19th in the standngs.
• Chodounsky was bumped in the quarter final by third place finisher Ivica Kostelic of Croatia.
• Austrian Marcel Hirscher won the men's event for his seventh win of the season. Lena Duerr of Germany won the women's race for her first World Cup win.
• The night head-to-head parallel slalom was held on a 200 foot tall man-made structure in Moscow's All-Russian Exhibition Center.
• It was the final World Cup competition before the Feb. 4-17 FIS Alpine Ski World Championships in Schladming, Austria.
• Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO), Julia Mancuso (Squaw Valley, CA) and Ted Ligety (Park City, UT) opted not to compete in order to focus on World Championships.
• Universal Sports Network will rebroadcast the thrilling urban event at 9:30 p.m. ET.

QUOTES
Mikaela Shiffrin
It's always tough becuase you're aware that someone it right next to you - you're wondering if you're ahead or if you're behind - wondering where they are and hoping you're in the lead. Kirchgasser was really tough but I knew that she was going to be good. Lena Duerr was really fun to race, she just came up and started ripping and she took that to the win.

I'm not really thinking about the slalom title chase, but it feels good to get some extra points. I'm feeling really confident in my skiing. My goal for today was just to have fun and rip - the points were a bonus.

David Chodounsky
It sucked going out in the first run against Moelgg and that put me into a hole, but I knew I was fast up top. I just kept my foot on the floor becuase I knew I wasn't out of it. I pushed as hard as I could. Then Kostelic got me by one hundreth in the quarter final. That was so close, but I'm happy I came here.

I didn't know what to expect and now I'm in the top 20 for slalom. Making World Cup Finals is a really big goal for me, it's nice to get away from the bubble and totally focus on World Championships.

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