Anna Swenn Larsson earns first solo World Cup win after slalom victory in Soldeu - 'It's a dream come true'
BySportsbeat
Published 11/02/2024 at 16:04 GMT
The Swede occupied the top step of a World Cup podium alone for the first time in her career, having shared her last win with Wendy Holdener back in November 2022. The podium in Andorra was completed by Croatia's Zrinka Ljutic and the USA's Paula Moltzan, the latter earning a first top-three finish of the season. Serial winners Mikaela Shiffrin and Petra Vlhova were both missing through injury.
'It's all come good' - Swenn-Larsson secures second-ever World Cup win in Soldeu
Anna Swenn Larsson hailed "a dream come true" following her first solo World Cup victory in Andorra.
The 32-year-old Swede led after the first run of Sunday's slalom and managed to hold on to her advantage by clocking 54.80s on a sensational second run.
That was enough for an overall time of 1:49.25, 0.35 seconds clear of Croatia's Zrinka Ljutic, and secured Swenn Larsson the top step of the podium on her own right for the first time, having shared her previous victory with Wendy Holdener in November 2022.
"It's a dream come true and even if it was so nice to share the first victory with Wendy, it's special to stand on the top by yourself as well," she said.
Larsson has bounced back from a tough start to the season and has now finished in the top five in each of her last six slalom races.
She seized on the absence of the injured Mikaela Shiffrin and Petra Vlhova, who between them had won every slalom for over a year and have not both missed a slalom for nearly 13 years, and added: "It's sad that two queens are not here but I'm so happy to grab a victory."
Ljutic's silver marked a second successive podium finish while American Paula Moltzan took third, five hundredths of a second clear of Michelle Gisin.
A second-placed finish was clearly a shock for Ljutic, who skied from bib No. 15 up into third place after the first run, before sealing a top-half finish in the second to secure a third podium of the season.
"I was really surprised when I saw the first place (provisionally) in the finish because I felt all over the place on the last pitch, but I felt like I had some tempo from the upper part, so I was fighting and I'm happy that it paid off," she explained in quotes published by fis-ski.com.
Meanwhile, Moltzan reflected on a first podium of the season after producing two impressive runs down the course.
"It's been a season of highs and lows, (I'm) so happy to finally take a step on the podium," she said.
"Although we're missing lots of top competitors, I don't think it discounts anything today - the emotions are all there."
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