An American steals the show from Vlhova & Co

The slalom in Kranjska Gora on Sunday was all about an American, but she doesn't go by the name Mikaela Shiffrin. Meanwhile, an extremely solid Petra Vlhova took the win.

07 January 2024

From: leo

After six slaloms, the duel between Shiffrin and Vlhova is 3:3: The Slovakian drew level with a dominant victory in Kranjska Gora on Sunday and is now only five points behind the American, who took the lead in the first round, in the discipline rankings .

The most impressive story of the day was written by AJ Hurt. In January 2023, the American had to go under the knife due to an ankle injury. In November she made her comeback in Killington and immediately took 19th place. A week later she cracked the top 10 for the first time in the giant slalom in Mont-Tremblant. This Sunday she showed that she is also world class in slalom. She qualified for the second run with the high number 38 and set off real fireworks in this one. She handled the rotating course with its deep tracks excellently, conjured up the best running time in the snow and climbed to the first podium of her career.

Vlhova has nerves of steel

One competitor after the other fell behind Hurt - including Leona Popovic, who took a lead of 1,83 seconds. Although second-placed Lena Dürr also had to struggle with major problems, she just managed to catch the American. Cheered on by numerous Slovak supporters, Vlhova prevented a German victory. She fought her way down the battered slope, distanced Dürr by 0,72 seconds and celebrated her third victory in Kranjska Gora in a row.

The winner's podium. © APA/afp / JURE MAKOVEC

Italy's slalom team had once again done well in the first round: not a single athlete qualified for the decision - not even Marta Rossetti, who shone in fifth place in Killington but has never crossed the finish line since. Vera Tschurtschenthaler is also still waiting for her first points this season.

The result