Shiffrin Finding Form as Compelling World Cup Slalom Competition Heats Up
One point is all that separates Frida Hansdotter and Mikaela Shiffrin at the top of the FIS World Cup slalom standings.
The narrow margin is an apt indicator of the compelling nature of the 2014-15 season, five races in to the discipline's nine-date programme. It's an unfolding story that extends beyond the performances of these two women and promises an equally entertaining bonus in the form of February's World Championships.
Shiffrin has enjoyed a timely, hard-fought resurgence over the turn of the year.
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The reigning Olympic, World Cup and World Championships title holder in slalom had been without a first-place finish in the event all season (though her increased focus on the giant slalom had proved a little kinder). She narrowly missed out on the top 10 at Levi but improved to fifth and then fourth in Aspen and Are, respectively.
Off the back of four slalom wins out of five available at the start of 2014—Sochi included—it was a disappointing return for the teenager. Shiffrin's exceptional previous success in the sport made her getting stuck in a rut seem unlikely, though. Crucially, the clear line of progress into winter gave her something encouraging to work with even as others grabbed wins.
With another GS podium secured the previous day (her second), the American's slalom efforts paid off at Kuehai in Tirol a couple days before the calendar closed on '14. The leader from the first run, Shiffrin held off Sarka Strachova (Czech Republic) in second and Wendy Holdener (Switzerland) in third to record that elusive win with an overall time of 1:43.39.
"Overall it's a great weekend with two podiums," Shiffrin said post-race, per the FIS' official website. "I feel like I am getting my slalom back, so I'm really excited. However it's not necessarily the best projector of what the next races will be. So I have to keep working."
Evidently she did because this past Sunday she secured first again at Zagreb-Sljeme, retaining the Croatian event's Snow Queen crown after her previous success there in 2013.
The seventh out of the gate, Shiffrin's time of 56.88 seconds went ahead of then-leader Kathrin Zettel by -0.80. A late mistake threatened to derail her clearly fast attack down the mountain. But in a recovery which brought to mind a similarly impressive feat from the Aspen GS, she rectified her stance before any harm was done.
The second run saw Shiffrin comfortably ski to a winning time of 1:56.66, a good second and a half faster than the nearest-placed Zettel.
"For the first time in my career, I just feel like I am in complete control of myself," Shiffrin told The Associated Press afterward (h/t The New York Times), going on to credit a December training camp in Italy for her successful recent spark.
She continued, per The Associated Press report:
"I feel really comfortable on my feet right now after a lot of testing in Santa Caterina but also really great training. I have started off really great with my career but I am hoping to keep improving...I feel like I am in a really great place right now.
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There are challengers to that feeling and Shiffrin's continued rewriting of the slalom record books (the latest victory saw her surpass Lise-Marie Morerod and equal Hanni Wenzel to go eighth in wins). But with Austrian great Marlies Schild's retirement last summer, it is not yet apparent if anyone else has the talent and ability to consistently apply it in frequently challenging the young star. For the World Cup title, for World Championships gold in Vail, or both.
The versatile Tina Maze—winner in Levi—is certainly capable. The Slovenian's understandable main priority, though, is the World Cup overall competition, which she currently leads (and Shiffrin sits second). Something reflected in her steady, but somewhat restrained fifth-place showing in Croatia on the weekend.
The Austrian Zettel has only failed to make the top 10 once this season and has secured three podium places herself. A silver medalist in slalom at the 2011 World Championships, she is definitely capable of winning on her day. As too are the Swedish pair of Maria Pietilae-Holmner and Hansdotter.
Pietilae-Holmner (bronze in the aforementioned Garmisch-Partenkirchen Worlds) won on home snow in Are but has been unable to repeat since then. A presence on the podium up until Kuehtai in Tirol, the World Cup leader Hansdotter's second consecutive fourth in Zagreb has come at a bad time with Shiffrin beginning to excel.
Others like Nicole Hosp and the earlier mentioned, former world slalom champion Strachova (increasingly and happily getting back to pre-brain surgery form) will also hope to stake their own claims for success. A relative outsider like Loeseth—fresh from her first ever World Cup podium—will be keen to join the elite.
Four World Cup slalom races and the World Championships run remain ahead in slalom. Shiffrin may be on track to repeat the victories of years past. But whether her dominance prevails or others make the second half of the season as tough as the first, plenty of brilliant skiing thankfully awaits.
The Alpine skiing community is in mourning this week after American development-level ski racers Ronnie Berlack and Bryce Astle were killed by an avalanche in Soelden.
Their peer Shiffrin was among those to pay tribute in an eloquent, emotional post on social media.
"I’d like to ask you, wherever you are, to take a moment of silence for the lives of these boys who died yesterday, and their families, though you may not know them personally. The ski community is small, and it is important that we stick together.
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