Vlhova & Shiffrin: Like from another planet

And Vlhova agreed with her rival. “If you look at the result today, we were on the same level and the other girls are a little bit behind us,” said the 24-year-old, who was crowned “Snow Queen” for the first time. “I'm really proud of what I achieved today.” A special stimulant was the song “Peťa, si top!” (Petra, you're top!) written for her by a group from her home country. Members of the Vlhova fan club gave a copy of it to the grounds announcer, who then played it during their second run.

At the beginning of the season it seemed as if Shiffrin was in her own world in the slalom. In Levi she won by 1,78 seconds. In Killington in the US east coast state of Vermont, where the conditions are particularly suitable for her, it was a seemingly enormous 2,29 on Vlhova. But in the last race of the old year in Lienz she at least got 0,61 and now managed to turn the tables. She distanced Shiffrin by 1,31 seconds on Saturday, which led to an open-hearted expression of respect.

8 seconds between 1st and 30th place “Everyone wants to win, but she and her team are one of the few who are able to surpass what I achieved with my team,” Shiffrin continued. “She was at her highest level today and I was a little below that.”

What can really make you suspicious is the lead between the two of them over the rest of the field. In Lienz, third place Michelle Gisin from Switzerland had “only” 1,11 seconds between herself and second-placed Vlhova. Liensberger had almost twice as much. There were 30 seconds between Vlhova and Russia's Yekaterina Tkachenko in 8,03th place in Zagreb.

“It's not always like that. There are a lot of races where the other girls are closer or even ahead, but today I think was a really good example of the work we both want to put in,” Shiffrin explained. The slalom world champion has already emphasized several times that Vlhova gets better performances out of her. Things are now going quite well between people too. It also works interpersonally “I have to try to keep a little bit of distance to have more fire. But I think things have become more relaxed over the last few years. We talk more and support each other more,” Shiffrin said. And even suspected: “I think if we weren’t competitors, we would be really good friends.”

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Vlhova & Shiffrin: Like from another planet

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