Slovakia's Petra Vlhova secures World Cup slalom double as Mikaela Shiffrin comes fifth

ByEurosport

Updated 22/11/2020 at 16:17 GMT

Petra Vlhova dominated in Levi to secure back-to-back World Cup slalom wins. American Mikaela Shiffrin, who was racing for only the second time following the death of her father, Jeff, in February, said she was feeling lethargic after her comeback to the slopes as she missed out on a podium finish. Shiffrin hadn't skiied for 300 days before Saturday's World Cup race.

Petra Vlhova held off a strong challenge from Michelle Gisin to win her second World Cup slalom of the weekend - also her fifth straight World Cup slalom - as Mikaela Shiffrin came fifth.

Vlhova and Gisin shared the lead after the opening run on Sunday (54.32) but the Slovakian number one edged past her Swiss opponent by 0.31 seconds in the final leg.

"I felt really good before the race and I did two good runs, but no perfect," Vlhova told FIS-Ski.

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"Sometimes if I win, I know the run was perfect. I won but in the second run I made a few small mistakes. But I won, but that's for tomorrow.

"I am so so happy that I can manage myself and put in all my power. At the end, it's two victories in two days so it's amazing."

'Form of her life!' - Vlhova soars to slalom double

Shiffrin was racing for only the second time after a ten month break and was in fourth after the first run. She missed the podium for the first time in almost three years.

“I feel like the competitive edge is maybe coming back, too, so that’s also exciting, but it’s good to be in a ski race again," Shiffrin said.

Runner-up Gisin was visibly delighted with her performance afterwards. The Olympic champion in the combined event has yet to win a World Cup race, but a second place finish on the podium was her best career result in slalom.

The women’s World Cup continues with a parallel event in Austria on Thursday.

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