Petra Vlhova: “They are putting a lot of demands on me”

The duel between giants Petra Vlhova and Mikaela Shiffrin left no room for rivals. But this season the circle has expanded. In Zagreb on Sunday four runners were within tenths of a second – Vlhova, Katharina Liensberger, Michelle Gisin and Shiffrin. This promises to be very exciting before the race in Flachau in a week.

The Croatian capital has almost always been a place where the wheat is clearly separated from the chaff. From 2012 to 2020, in seven years, an athlete won the Slalom on Sljeme by more than a second. Last year Vlhova triumphed with a lead of 1,31 seconds, in 2018 and 2019 Shiffrin had a lead of 1,59 and 1,25 seconds respectively over second place. At the weekend, however, only five hundredths of a second separated Vlhova from Liensberger, whose first victory was becoming increasingly louder.

“I always have to be at my limit” Peter Vlhova “When I crossed the finish line and saw the green light, I was really surprised,” said Vlhova after her 18th World Cup victory ORF -Interview. Gisin, who had won the Semmering Slalom five days earlier, was 0,22 seconds behind in third place, while Shiffrin was only 0,27 seconds behind in fourth place. “We are very close. I always have to be at my limit because they challenge me enormously. “Four girls within three or four tenths,” said the Slovakian, who was only fourth in Semmering. Afterwards she “trained a lot to regain self-confidence. I implemented it here.” Shiffrin is not yet at the top level Athletic performance curves can change dramatically within a short period of time due to unplanned developments. For Shiffrin, it was primarily the death of her father at the beginning of February 2020 that brought her down from her position of strength. In addition, there was a botched start to the season because the American was only able to fly to Europe late because of the corona pandemic and start material testing there. Now the sensitive 25-year-old is fighting back. In the giant slalom she made it back to the top in Courchevel.

Michelle Gisin broke Shiffrin and Vlhova's winning streak at Semmering after 28 World Cup slaloms. © APA/afp / DAMIR SENCAR

In Semmering, Gisin broke the dominance of Vlhova and Shiffrin, who had shared all the slaloms between themselves for almost four years. The Swiss woman feels in top shape again for the first time in a long time. “I had to struggle with cartilage damage for years.” Most recently it affected my right knee after a fall in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in 2019. She has to thank her doctor and her physiotherapist “because they helped me achieve so many slalom goals "I can see that what I'm showing at the moment is inside." Liensberger close to her first World Cup victory For Liensberger, the current high is the result of constant work and willpower. “It shows me that the path is right, the direction. Of course I hope that the hundredths will be on my side at some point,” said the Austrian.

Of course, when all the parameters are considered, Vlhova is still the boss in the ring, having won six of the seven slaloms recently completed in the World Cup. In Flachau, on January 12th, her challengers will have another chance to ground the 25-year-old. What Gisin achieved in Semmering, Liensberger now wants to achieve in Flachau and finally celebrate her first World Cup victory.

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Petra Vlhova: “They are putting a lot of demands on me”

In recent years, the situation seemed cemented when there was a women's slalom in the Ski World Cup. Now this has finally changed.

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