Shiffrin Claims Historic 156th Podium; Moltzan Sixth
On Sunday’s slalom in Åre, Sweden the winningest skier of all time Mikaela Shiffrin notched another record, claiming third place to mark her 156th podium finish. This achievement now solidifies the great as resetting the record for the most World Cup alpine podiums ever.
“In challenging conditions you have to be so perfect, and it can be really hard to ski loose and aggressive when you have no room for errors,” said Shiffrin. “I feel pretty proud that I was pushing.”
It was a mixed day of conditions in Åre with a spring-like surface at the top of the day to winter snowflakes falling down in the afternoon. The women slalom skiers would need to find a new level of intensity to make it down the run fast and clean. Shiffrin ran bib one and set the pace. She skied each turn with aggression, consistently finding the top of the turn to sit in first for the remainder of the run.
Stifel U.S. Ski Team teammate Paula Moltzan had a strong start that would put her in 11th - a great spot to move up from on the second run. The second run needed grit to make it down into the green and she did just that. She skied solidly to sit in the leaderboard chair for a few spots and ultimately ended up sixth.
“Conditions today were super tough between the snow and visibility. The second run was a fight,” said Moltzan. “I am happy to have come down in the green light and move up a couple spots! Most importantly I am so excited to go home and race at the Stifel Sun Valley Finals in just a few weeks.”
The next racers to go would shake up the podium. Austria’s Katharina Truppe skied a great second run to overtake the lead and win her first World Cup with teammate Katharina Liensberger just behind.
Shiffrin skied strong from the top but began to lose a little bit of her lead in the middle. Despite her best efforts in the very tough conditions, it was not enough for the win but resulted in an impressive third place.
“I’ll watch the video later but I imagine both of the Katis did an amazing job!” said Shiffrin.
AJ Hurt also landed in the points on Sunday in 20th place. Katie Hensien, Nina O’Brien and Elisabeth Bocock did not finish.
Next the women’s tech team heads back to the U.S. for Stifel Sun Valley Finals.
RESULTS
Women's slalom
