Even beat Shiffrin: Race without haste to the best time

The hunt for a fifth consecutive victory is proving difficult for Mikaela Shiffrin. In the World Cup slalom in Semmering, the American started the final run with a relatively large deficit – partly because a Swiss skier delivered a calm and collected performance.

28 December 2025

From: never

Keeping pace with Mikaela Shiffrin in the slalom – in the first four races of the season, this seemed like a mammoth task. However, in the fifth race, the competition is closer than ever this season: For the first time, Shiffrin, who has won all previous slaloms by at least 1,23 seconds, is not in the lead at the halfway point. Instead, world champion Camille Rast snatched the fastest time in the first run at Semmering, followed by Lara Colturi (+0,09 seconds), Katharina Liensberger (+0,34), and Shiffrin (+0,54).

Like the skiers before her, Rast was thrown off her stride by a bump in the upper part of the course, but immediately got back on her skis. She then weaved smoothly through the slalom gates on the Zauberberg and, with an unflappable performance, took the lead. The 26-year-old has already stood on the podium in Gurgl (3rd) and Courchevel (2nd), and now she is aiming for her third World Cup victory.

Shiffrin is only human, too.

Shiffrin, on the other hand, had an unusually rough race: The overall World Cup leader skillfully avoided losing time on the bump in the early stages, but subsequently lacked the necessary pace. Ultimately, the 30-year-old was saddled with a deficit of over half a second. "Difficult to say," the eight-time world champion remarked in an interview with the... ORF back to her run. “I was probably a bit rounder than necessary. Camille chose the direct line at the right moments.”

Mikaela Shiffrin at the World Cup in Semmering. © APA / GEORG HOCHMUTH

The first run was also marked by numerous crashes; 15 of the first 42 skiers were eliminated. The fast course, in particular, posed significant challenges for many athletes. Seven Italian skiers were among the starters in Lower Austria. Lara della Mea (13th/+3,06) and Martina Peterlini (21st/+4,14) are hoping to score points in the final run starting at 5:45 p.m. Giada d'Antonio, a 16-year-old talent from Naples who had caused a sensation in the FIS category, also made her debut with bib number 70. However, the youngster, like her teammates Beatrice Sola, Emilia Mondinelli, Giorgia Collomb, and Giulia Valleriani, did not finish the run.