Petra Vlhova wins first ever Olympic gold after big rival Mikaela Shiffrin crashes in first run at Winter Olympics

ByJames Kilpatrick

Updated 09/02/2022 at 10:11 GMT

Petra Vlhova has won her first ever Olympic gold medal at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. The Slovakian, who came 13th in the slalom at PyeongChang 2018 won in style. She remarkably moved up from eighth in the first run to win gold. Watch every moment of Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 on discovery+.

Petra Vlhova has won her first ever Olympic gold at the Yangqing Alpine Skiing Centre, after big rival Mikaela Shiffrin crashed out in the first run.

It's a day to cherish for Vlhova and for Slovakia, who win their first ever Alpine gold.

Vlhova, who finished the first run in eighth, knew she had to play catch-up going into the second run and she delivered. Her aggressive run saw her produce a gold medal-winning time of 1:44.98.

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Slalom world champion Katherina Liensberger was up next but she could not beat the Slovakian, making a handful of errors which saw her finish 0.08 seconds behind on 1:45.06, but it would ensure the Austrian would win the silver medal.

Switzerland's Wendy Holdener could not believe it as she failed to close the gap, finishing in 1:45.10, but she did scoop up the bronze.

"Olympic champion sounds incredible," Vlhova told Eurosport afterwards.

"I can't believe it. I am super happy because I become an Olympic champion and it sounds incredible.

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"After the first run I was a little bit down because I did not ski well. I did not have a good feeling but second run I gave everything I could to do it and at the end I won the Olympic Games.

"I can't describe all those emotions because they are so high. After the first run you are a little bit down and all my team, my brother they believe in me. They believe that I can be really strong in slalom and I just listened to them and tried to do my best.

"It's a lot of pressure because I am alone. We are not a big country and nobody has medals from Olympic Games from Alpine skiing so I made history also.

"It's difficult but with a good team and good people around you can do anything.

"Behind this is a lot of work. Maybe from outside it looks does not look so hard but it's very, very hard."

British number one Charlie Guest was one of the early racers and she got off to a sluggish start.

‘She can ski anything!’ – Vlhova celebrates with abandon after winning Slovakia’s first Alpine gold

The Scot regained her composure in the middle section, but in the final section she got her tips stuck and was frustrated as she crossed the line in a time of 1:47.96, finishing joint 21st.

Switzerland's Michelle Gisin started brilliantly, but she could not find the pace on the closing steep turns and finished in sixth.

Sweden's Sara Hector, who came third in the first run, was a surprise DNF.

Lena Duerr from Germany, who led after the first run, was +0.19 seconds off the podium which confirmed Vlhova, from the small town of Liptovsky Mikulas, as an Olympic champion.

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Watch every moment of Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 on discovery+ .

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