Shiffrin dominates Vlhova to win Killington slalom in style

US superstar Mikaela Shiffrin won the women’s alpine World Cup slalom at Killington on Sunday in dominant style, beating Slovakian Petra Vlhova by 2.29 seconds.

Shiffrin, the three-time overall World Cup champion, took a stranglehold on the race in the opening leg, flying down an icy course in front of delighted home fans in Vermont in 51.98sec -- 1.13sec faster than Vlhova.

Shiffrin’s second run of 58.47sec was more than enough for victory with a total time of 1:50.45 as Vlhova clocked 59.63 to take second in 1:52.74.

Sweden’s Anna Swenn Larsson delivered a superb second run of 58.38 to take third in 1:53.18.

Wendy Holdener had been third after the opening leg -- the only other skier within two seconds of Shiffrin.

But the Swiss skied out of the running moments out of the gate on the second leg, missing out on a chance at a 24th slalom podium finish -- all without a win in the discipline.

Despite the impressive margin of victory, Shiffrin said it was far from easy on the second run.

“Oh man, it was just a really big fight,” she said. “I knew that Petra made some really big mistakes in the first run.

“And Wendy’s coach set the second run course, so I’m thinking, ‘All right I have a really big lead but I have to really fight now.

“And that was a big fight. I was on the limit, like, every single turn,” she said of her second run.

“I felt like I was going to fall every single gate.” Shiffrin’s fourth straight slalom win at Killington followed her win in the season-opening slalom at Levi, Finland, which was her record 41st in the discipline.

The 24-year-old notched her 62nd World Cup victory, matching Austrian Annemarie Moser-Proell for fourth-most on the all-time list led by Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark (86), American Lindsey Vonn (82) and Austrian Marcel Hirscher (67).

Shiffrin has been on the podium of all four of the races so far in the young World Cup season, continuing the momentum of a 2018-19 campaign in which she won a record 17 races.

She tops the overall standings with 340 points, with Switzerland’s Michelle Gisin second on 148 and Vlhova third on 138. The women head next weekend to Lake Louise, Canada, for the first speed events of the season, two downhills and a super-G.

Agence France-Presse