Mikaela Shiffrin celebrates 'new beginning' with her first slalom win in 13 months

Mikaela Shiffrin, who endured a traumatic 2020 due to the death of her father in February, the Covid-19 pandemic and a back injury, last triumphed in slalom in December 2019. The result earned her a 68th World Cup victory, leaving her 14 wins behind fellow American Lindsey Vonn, who holds the record for most by a woman.

Two-time Olympic gold medallist Mikaela Shiffrin said her first slalom win in 13 months in Austria on Tuesday felt like a fresh start.

Racing in light snowfall under the lights, Shiffrin sealed a record 44th slalom victory with a time of 1:47.92, holding off Katharina Liensberger of Austria by 0.19 seconds.

"It feels a little bit like a new beginning," Shiffrin told broadcaster ORF.

Åre

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• Brilliant Shiffrin secures 68th World Cup win to move ahead of Hirscher
• Home favourite Liensberger has to settle for second in Flachau despite great run

"Most of my wins and my best races are behind me. It's already happened. And, at 25, it's weird to think the bulk of my best racing in my career is already over.

"You can't really move forward until you stop trying to go back, and I'm having a difficult time with that.

It's hard not to want that, to just want life to be like it was before February 2. I'm probably going to be struggling with that for a while, but I think that tonight was a pretty big step.

WATCH - Mikaela Shiffrin seals victory at Flachau

Shiffrin insists chasing Vonn's milestone of 82 World Cup wins was not on her mind.

"This slope has kind of tripped me up the last several years. I just wanted to ski strong," Shiffrin said. "It was really fun."

OUR VIEW

This is a monumental win for Shiffrin, make no mistake about it.

Gisin might have broken the Shiffrin-Vlhova stranglehold on slalom racing a couple of weeks ago but they are still very much the two to beat.

Shiffrin has had to watch her Slovakian rival dominate the slalom but this was Shiffrin back to her best.

This was the last slalom before the World Championships in February and it will do Shiffrin the world of good to be going to Italy next month on the back of a win.

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