SAALBACH-HINTERGLEMM, Austria — Swedish skier Anna Swenn Larsson edged out Mikaela Shiffrin in the opening run of the women’s slalom at the World Cup finals Saturday, with the American chasing her 60th win in the discipline and 97th overall.
On a course set by Shiffrin’s coach Karin Harjo, Swenn Larsson was 0.11 second faster than the American star, who locked up her record-equaling eighth slalom season title last week in her first race back from a six-week injury layoff.
No other skier stayed close to the duo, as Croatian prodigy Zrinka Ljutic trailed by a massive 0.67 seconds in third, and the rest of the field had to make up more than nine-tenths in the final run later Saturday.
“I felt really good on my skis, I thought my equipment for this run was really good set up. I was pushing,” said Shiffrin, referring to the challenging course conditions after overnight rain softened the snow.
“We are going to get tracks on the second run, for sure. But still, I think running bib 5, it was quite OK, so I could ski how I wanted. Ideally, I can be maybe a little bit more clean on a couple of sections, but actually I think I pushed about to my maximum there.”
Shiffrin, who turned 29 on Wednesday, said on Instagram the slalom will be her last race of the season, skipping Sunday’s giant slalom and next week’s speed events.
PHOTOS: Swedish skier Swenn Larsson leads Shiffrin after 1st run of season-ending World Cup slalom
Swenn Larsson won in Soldeu last month, the only slalom race Shiffrin missed while recovering from hurting her left knee in a downhill crash in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. The two-time Olympic champion sprained the MCL and tibiofibular ligament in her knee, while also still recovering from a bone bruise she had sustained at the start of the season.
With key rivals Petra Vlhova and Wendy Holdener ending their campaigns prematurely with injuries, Shiffrin has won six slaloms this season, raising her career tally to record-extending 59. No other skier, male or female, has won more than 46 races in a single discipline.
Shiffrin has won the season-ending slalom at the traditional World Cup finals a record six times in her career, but not since 2019.
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