Mikaela Shiffrin remained undefeated in slalom on the World Cup this season by winning her fifth slalom race in Croatia’s capital of Zagreb. For the win, Shiffrin was awarded the Snow Queen Trophy for the fourth time in her career.
Rounding out the podium with Shiffrin was Petra Vlhova of Slovakia in second and Switzerland’s Wendy Holdener in third. Full results are here.
Shiffrin pumped her fists in excitement after crossing the finish line to take the lead after her first of two slalom runs. The last time Shiffrin crossed a slalom finish line she broke two World Cup Alpine records, and yet, in Zagreb, her post-run reactions were slightly more effusive.
A self-deprecating Shiffrin joked about her lack of emotion at the finish line in a call with the media after her multiple record-setting day in Austria, saying the fact is she experiences too many emotions all at once at the finish.
Multiple thoughts of varying importance flood Shiffrin’s mind, everything from the significant, “Did I make all the gates?” to the somewhat mundane, “Where is the scoreboard?”
“I think a lot of people think that I’m mad or emotionless, or i just don’t care when I come through the finish,” Shiffrin said. “And that’s not it at all.
“It’s certainly not emotionless, it’s emotion-full.”
In both her first and second run in Zagreb, Shiffrin relentlessly accelerated down the course, mining speed as she attacked the gates. Where other racers struggled, Shiffrin was able to capitalize on the many icy, hockey rink-like transitions en route to the finish.
“The surface was perfect so it was easy to be aggressive,” Shiffrin said after the win.
The first place finish also helped Shiffrin hold on to the top position on the leaderboard for slalom and overall World Cup points.
The women’s World Cup tour returns to Austria on January 8 for another slalom event in Flachau, before heading to St. Anton for downhill and Super-G racing on January 12 and 13. Stream all the events on NBC Sports Gold.
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