Vlhova Sets Exciting Tone For Season With Slalom Win
In the age of Mikaela Shiffrin, it’s no small task for other women to win a slalom World Cup. Winning back-to-back slaloms is almost unheard of unless you’re Slovakian. On Saturday, Petra Vlhova won the first slalom race of the season in Levi, Finland, after closing out the 2016-17 season with a win in Aspen, Colo., back in March.
She is the first woman, other than Shiffrin, to win back-to-back World Cup slalom races since her fellow countrywoman Veronika Velez-Zuzulova did so in January 2016 at Flachau, Austria, when the American was off the slopes while recovering from a knee injury. Vlhova not only takes home the satisfaction of knowing she’ll wear the red bib at Killington, but also has a new reindeer friend to call her own.
“It’s amazing,” she said breathlessly after the race. “Like I tell Mikaela, she’s really strong, fast, so for me, it’s best day today.”
The early season victory not only bodes well for an exciting rivalry between Vlhova and Shiffrin in slalom, but also for the Olympic Winter Games. In the last three Olympic seasons, the winner of the first slalom World Cup went on to win Olympic slalom gold – in 2006, 2010, and 2014. Of course, Shiffrin hopes to put a stop to that trend and defend her 2014 Olympic gold in PyeongChang, South Korea, this February.
The American joined Vlhova on the podium in second place after losing her 0.21-second lead from the first run.
“First, I want to say I’m always grateful to be on the podium, but it’s definitely tough especially when it’s so close,” said Shiffrin, “One-tenth is not much time, and I know exactly the places where I lost that time and it’s always a bit disappointing to look back on the run and say, ‘I wish that here I would have done this, or here I would have done that.’”
Despite the fact that the American has been so dominant in the discipline, she was not surprised that Vlhova walked away with the victory.
“I was training with Petra a little bit in the last few days before this race, and I knew that she’s been fast, so I expected that she would be strong and fast today,” Shiffrin shared. “She’s also really mentally tough. Everybody knows that from her performances last year as well, so I expect that it’s going to be a really cool fight with her this year and that’s exciting.”
Swiss skier Wendy Holdener, known affectionately on tour as “Sendy Wendy,” rounded out the podium in third place, 1.35 seconds off the winning pace. Did that podium give fans a little deja vu? It’s because the top three graced the podium last year in a slightly different order.
Off the podium, it was a big day for four ladies who attacked from the back to earn top-30 finishes. Austria’s Stephanie Brunner made a massive jump from bib 53 to an impressive eighth-place result. It marked her first top-10 finish in the discipline just a couple weeks after her fourth-place result in the GS at Soelden.
Brunner’s teammate Katharina Huber also made waves with a 12th-place result, moving up from bib 42. Mina Fuerst Holtmann of Norway was hot on her heels in 13th place, coming up from bib 51. The Attacking Viking is returning after two years away from racing due to back and knee injuries, and she is clearly in attack mode. Laurence St. Germain of Canada also logged a career-best result moving up 30 spots to a 17th-place result.
World Cup veterans Resi Stiegler and Megan McJames were the only other Americans on the start list. Stiegler kicked off the season with a 21st-place result while McJames did not qualify for the second run.
The ladies will leave the Arctic Circle and head to the U.S. for the next World Cup races at Killington, Vt. World Cup racing action continues on Sunday with the first men’s slalom of the season.
Top 10
- Petra Vlhova (SVK) – Rossignol / Look / Rossignol
- Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) – Atomic / Atomic / Atomic
- Wendy Holdener (SUI) – Head / Head / Head
- Frida Hansdotter (SWE) – Rossignol / Look / Rossignol
- Melanie Meillard (SUI) – Rossignol / Look / Rossignol
- Lena Duerr (GER) – Voelkl / Marker / Dalbello
- Anna Swenn-Larsson (SWE) – Rossignol / Look / Rossignol
- Stephanie Brunner (AUT) – Head / Head / Head
- Ana Bucik (SLO) – Stoeckli / Salomon / Head
- Marie-Michele Gagnon (CAN) – Rossignol / Look / Rossignol
Official Results
Rank | Bib | FIS Code | Name | Year | Nation | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total Time | Diff. | FIS Points | WC Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 7 | 705423 | VLHOVA Petra | 1995 | SVK | 55.87 | 54.11 | 1:49.98 | 0.00 | 100.00 | |
2 | 3 | 6535237 | SHIFFRIN Mikaela | 1995 | USA | 55.66 | 54.42 | 1:50.08 | +0.10 | 0.65 | 80.00 |
3 | 4 | 516280 | HOLDENER Wendy | 1993 | SUI | 56.86 | 54.47 | 1:51.33 | +1.35 | 8.84 | 60.00 |
4 | 1 | 505679 | HANSDOTTER Frida | 1985 | SWE | 56.39 | 55.76 | 1:52.15 | +2.17 | 14.21 | 50.00 |
5 | 14 | 516528 | MEILLARD Melanie | 1998 | SUI | 57.61 | 54.95 | 1:52.56 | +2.58 | 16.89 | 45.00 |
6 | 16 | 206355 | DUERR Lena | 1991 | GER | 57.23 | 55.53 | 1:52.76 | +2.78 | 18.20 | 40.00 |
7 | 34 | 506146 | SWENN-LARSSON Anna | 1991 | SWE | 57.48 | 55.68 | 1:53.16 | +3.18 | 20.82 | 36.00 |
8 | 53 | 56217 | BRUNNER Stephanie | 1994 | AUT | 58.38 | 54.80 | 1:53.18 | +3.20 | 20.95 | 32.00 |
9 | 13 | 565401 | BUCIK Ana | 1993 | SLO | 57.46 | 55.78 | 1:53.24 | +3.26 | 21.34 | 29.00 |
10 | 17 | 105269 | GAGNON Marie-Michele | 1989 | CAN | 57.41 | 56.05 | 1:53.46 | +3.48 | 22.78 | 26.00 |
11 | 19 | 55759 | KIRCHGASSER Michaela | 1985 | AUT | 58.09 | 55.41 | 1:53.50 | +3.52 | 23.04 | 24.00 |
12 | 42 | 56253 | HUBER Katharina | 1995 | AUT | 58.02 | 55.53 | 1:53.55 | +3.57 | 23.37 | 22.00 |
13 | 51 | 426100 | HOLTMANN Mina Fuerst | 1995 | NOR | 58.68 | 55.05 | 1:53.73 | +3.75 | 24.55 | 20.00 |
14 | 5 | 506341 | WIKSTROEM Emelie | 1992 | SWE | 57.32 | 56.44 | 1:53.76 | +3.78 | 24.75 | 18.00 |
15 | 15 | 516284 | GISIN Michelle | 1993 | SUI | 58.36 | 55.57 | 1:53.93 | +3.95 | 25.86 | 16.00 |
16 | 21 | 515997 | FEIERABEND Denise | 1989 | SUI | 58.86 | 55.08 | 1:53.94 | +3.96 | 25.92 | 15.00 |
17 | 47 | 107427 | ST-GERMAIN Laurence | 1994 | CAN | 58.31 | 55.65 | 1:53.96 | +3.98 | 26.06 | 14.00 |
17 | 25 | 565320 | FERK Marusa | 1988 | SLO | 57.89 | 56.07 | 1:53.96 | +3.98 | 26.06 | 14.00 |
17 | 12 | 425981 | SKJOELD Maren | 1993 | NOR | 58.25 | 55.71 | 1:53.96 | +3.98 | 26.06 | 14.00 |
20 | 27 | 206487 | WIESLER Maren | 1993 | GER | 57.94 | 56.03 | 1:53.97 | +3.99 | 26.12 | 11.00 |
21 | 11 | 537772 | STIEGLER Resi | 1985 | USA | 58.67 | 55.46 | 1:54.13 | +4.15 | 27.17 | 10.00 |
22 | 23 | 296259 | MOELGG Manuela | 1983 | ITA | 58.72 | 55.49 | 1:54.21 | +4.23 | 27.69 | 9.00 |
23 | 28 | 56367 | GALLHUBER Katharina | 1997 | AUT | 58.57 | 55.68 | 1:54.25 | +4.27 | 27.95 | 8.00 |
24 | 18 | 55977 | THALMANN Carmen | 1989 | AUT | 58.50 | 55.87 | 1:54.37 | +4.39 | 28.74 | 7.00 |
25 | 36 | 197616 | ALPHAND Estelle | 1995 | SWE | 58.31 | 56.08 | 1:54.39 | +4.41 | 28.87 | 6.00 |
26 | 30 | 196806 | NOENS Nastasia | 1988 | FRA | 58.41 | 56.06 | 1:54.47 | +4.49 | 29.39 | 5.00 |
27 | 22 | 106961 | MIELZYNSKI Erin | 1990 | CAN | 58.45 | 56.06 | 1:54.51 | +4.53 | 29.66 | 4.00 |
28 | 9 | 296354 | COSTAZZA Chiara | 1984 | ITA | 58.41 | 56.12 | 1:54.53 | +4.55 | 29.79 | 3.00 |
29 | 37 | 155728 | DUBOVSKA Martina | 1992 | CZE | 58.15 | 56.46 | 1:54.61 | +4.63 | 30.31 | 2.00 |
Did not finish 2nd run | |||||||||||
2 | 425771 | HAVER-LOESETH Nina | 1989 | NOR | 57.03 | ||||||
Did not qualify for 2nd run | |||||||||||
70 | 555035 | BONDARE Liene | 1996 | LAT | 1:04.11 | ||||||
68 | 298723 | MIDALI Roberta | 1994 | ITA | 1:01.22 | ||||||
66 | 65117 | VANREUSEL Kim | 1998 | BEL | 1:00.39 | ||||||
65 | 538284 | MCJAMES Megan | 1987 | USA | 1:00.38 | ||||||
63 | 225518 | GUEST Charlie | 1993 | GBR | 1:00.48 | ||||||
60 | 185430 | HONKANEN Riikka | 1998 | FIN | 59.36 | ||||||
58 | 405138 | JELINKOVA Adriana | 1995 | NED | 1:00.55 | ||||||
57 | 298767 | SOSIO Federica | 1994 | ITA | 1:00.15 | ||||||
56 | 305944 | KIYOSAWA Emiko | 1983 | JPN | 1:01.30 | ||||||
55 | 516437 | BISSIG Carole | 1996 | SUI | 59.97 | ||||||
54 | 506350 | EKLUND Nathalie | 1992 | SWE | 59.75 | ||||||
52 | 665009 | SHKANOVA Maria | 1989 | BLR | 1:00.36 | ||||||
50 | 155727 | CAPOVA Gabriela | 1993 | CZE | 1:00.39 | ||||||
49 | 565403 | LIVK Klara | 1994 | SLO | 59.64 | ||||||
48 | 307493 | ANDO Asa | 1996 | JPN | 1:00.50 | ||||||
46 | 506664 | FJAELLSTROEM Magdalena | 1995 | SWE | 1:00.06 | ||||||
45 | 25096 | GUTIERREZ Mireia | 1988 | AND | 59.53 | ||||||
41 | 56388 | LIENSBERGER Katharina | 1997 | AUT | 58.89 | ||||||
40 | 516426 | STOFFEL Elena | 1996 | SUI | 59.23 | ||||||
39 | 355061 | HILZINGER Jessica | 1997 | GER | 59.86 | ||||||
35 | 485802 | TKACHENKO Ekaterina | 1995 | RUS | 59.73 | ||||||
33 | 306249 | HASEGAWA Emi | 1986 | JPN | 1:00.30 | ||||||
32 | 506348 | STAALNACKE Ylva | 1992 | SWE | 58.98 | ||||||
29 | 56174 | HAASER Ricarda | 1993 | AUT | 59.07 | ||||||
26 | 196726 | BARTHET Anne-Sophie | 1988 | FRA | 59.64 | ||||||
24 | 56143 | GRUENWALD Julia | 1991 | AUT | 59.25 | ||||||
Did not finish 1st run | |||||||||||
71 | 185435 | HAKALA Kia-Emilia | 1998 | FIN | |||||||
69 | 185437 | HANNOLA Hilla | 1998 | FIN | |||||||
67 | 197808 | BOEUF Johanna | 1997 | FRA | |||||||
64 | 555018 | GASUNA Lelde | 1990 | LAT | |||||||
62 | 197540 | FORNI Josephine | 1994 | FRA | |||||||
61 | 426187 | LYSDAHL Kristin | 1996 | NOR | |||||||
59 | 565471 | HROVAT Meta | 1998 | SLO | |||||||
44 | 225525 | TILLEY Alex | 1993 | GBR | |||||||
43 | 506399 | HECTOR Sara | 1992 | SWE | |||||||
38 | 485637 | ALOPINA Ksenia | 1992 | RUS | |||||||
31 | 315187 | IGNJATOVIC Nevena | 1990 | SRB | |||||||
20 | 206536 | WALLNER Marina | 1994 | GER | |||||||
8 | 56315 | TRUPPE Katharina | 1996 | AUT | |||||||
6 | 56032 | SCHILD Bernadette | 1990 | AUT | |||||||
Did not start 1st run | |||||||||||
10 | 296509 | CURTONI Irene | 1985 | ITA |