Slovakian skier Petra Vlhova wins World Cup slalom in Slovenia
American Mikaela Shiffrin failed to finish the opening leg
Slovakian skier Petra Vlhova held on to her first-run lead to win a women's World Cup slalom Sunday in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, after Mikaela Shiffrin failed to finish the opening leg.
Racing in falling snow, Vlhova finished 0.72 seconds ahead of runner-up Lena Duerr of Germany.
Shiffrin's teammate AJ Hurt posted the fastest time in the second run as the American earned her first career World Cup podium in third, 0.87 behind Vlhova.
"I'm really happy and proud," Vlhova said. "It was really tough conditions. Especially the second run was from the first gate to the finish a big fight."
Hurt, wearing bib No. 38, improved from 16th position after the first run.
In 18 previous slalom starts, the Truckee, California native managed to score World Cup points on only two occasions, most recently when finishing 25th in a night race in France in December.
Hurt, whose given names are Amelia Josephine, has one top-10 result in other disciplines from 60 World Cup starts, after finishing ninth in a giant slalom in Tremblant, Quebec, five weeks ago.
Paula Moltzan was the second American to finish in the top five, trailing Vlhova by 1.23 seconds.
"I knew that conditions were going top be hard, so I pushed as much as I can," said Vlhova, who was loudly cheered by a legion of Slovakian fans.
"When I crossed the finish line and I saw the green light, it was explosion. Because in front of so many Slovakian people, it's something different to win."
WATCH | Vlhova takes gold in Kranjska Gora:
Vlhova and Shiffrin have now each won three slaloms this season, with the American leading the standings by five points from Vlhova.
Shiffrin also remained in the lead of the overall standings, 207 points ahead of her Slovakian rival.
In the first run, Shiffrin straddled a gate when she trailed Vlhova by 0.47 seconds at the first checkpoint before the American's left ski went the wrong side of a gate 24 seconds into her run.
It was a rare mishap for Shiffrin, who last straddled a gate in a World Cup race in the second run of a slalom on the same hill in Slovenia in January 2022, a month before the Beijing Olympics.
Shiffrin has been fighting a cold this week and finished in only ninth position in Saturday's giant slalom. She then skipped the mandatory public bib draw for Sunday's race.
After skiing out, Shiffrin congratulated Vlhova with a fist bump when she passed the leader's seat.
Seeking career win 31, Vlhova opened the race with a fast but not error-free effort with the Olympic champion wiping her goggles after finishing.
"I couldn't see anything from the middle because of snow," Vlhova said. "First section, last section were OK, but in the middle section I lost a little bit speed and [rhythm]. But at the end it's quite OK."
Vlhova built a lead of 0.26 seconds over both Duerr and Leona Popovic, who shared second place.
The Croatian skier tumbled and lost a ski when passing the last gate but managed to finish. After the second run, Popovic dropped to 11th.
Duerr remained the only winner other than Shiffrin or Vlhova in the last 13 slaloms after triumphing in a race in the Czech Republic in January 2023.
The women's World Cup next travels to Austria for three days of speed racing in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee starting Friday.
With files from CBC Sports
