Shiffrin wins World Cup slalom in Gurgl for her 103rd career victory

Mikaela Shiffrin is officially the queen of Gurgl.

In the second women’s World Cup visit to the Austrian slope, Shiffrin defended her title from last year on Sunday morning. The Edwards’ skier won both runs, posting a two-run time of 1 minute, 48.11 seconds to claim her second-straight slalom victory of the season.

“I had to push so hard, but it was really nice with the sun on the second run and I remember from last year it was so dark,” Shiffrin told media after winning her record-extending 103rd World Cup race. “It was actually great conditions.”

The podium was identical to the 2024 Gurgl World Cup stop.

Lara Colturi was in position to claim her first career World Cup victory — and the first for the nation of Albania — before Shiffrin came through in the green. Colturi finished second to the American in Gurgl last year and was also runner-up to Shiffrin in Levi, Finland, last week.

The 19-year-old was second again on Sunday. Camille Rast, the defending slalom world champion, was in third after run No. 1 and held on for the final spot on the podium, just 0.17 back from Colturi.

Colturi, the daughter of 2002 Olympic super-G champion Daniela Ceccarelli, said the conditions were “really rough.”

“The first impression after the first inspection, I said, ‘Probably it’s not my day.’ Especially in soft snow, I don’t have good feelings normally. But I really impressed myself, too, so I’m really proud for what I’ve done today,” she told FIS media. “I’m reminding myself that I can do it when conditions are not my best and I don’t like them. Now I’m realizing that I’m improving every run, every race, every training, and I’m really excited about that.”

When asked about the youngsters coming up to challenge her, Shiffrin smiled.

“I’m excited for all the amazing slalom skiing that’s happening right now and what’s possible for the future,” she said.

Coming into the event, Shiffrin was “hesitant” about the conditions, according to her media liaison, Megan Harrod. Cold temperatures made for a hard and icy surface on top, but recent snowfall softened the middle — forcing skiers to make moment-by-moment adjustments.

“Typically, Mikaela doesn’t feel great about aggressive snow, so there were some nerves coming into the weekend,” Harrod said in an email.

Shiffrin started her second run with a 0.31-second advantage. She extended it to 0.57 with the fastest first sector of the afternoon and built it to a 1.23-second lead by the end. The 30-year-old told media everything went according to plan.

“It was pretty much exactly how I expected,” she said. “Not easy, but I knew the others were pushing so there’s no choice — you have to go. … I think it’s some of the best slalom skiing I ever did.”

Paula Moltzan finished fifth for the U.S. to continue her best start to a World Cup season yet. The 31-year-old is third in the overall standings and GS rankings after her third straight top-5 finish. Moltzan said she felt her first run was “chaotic.”

“I want to work on minimizing my mistakes with more tactics in the tricky sections,” she said via U.S. Ski and Snowboard’s Sierra Ryder. “Today, the snow and course sets were challenging. I am happy to find the finish line and keep the results consistent, even if the skiing was a bit wild.”

The U.S. had four skiers earn second runs on Sunday. Both Nina O’Brien and A.J. Hurt posted DNFs in their second trip down the Kirchenkar slope. Teammates Annika Hunt placed 37th in run No. 1 and Liv Moritz, a former Ski and Snowboard Club Vail athlete, did not finish her first run.

Going back to her win at the World Cup finals in Sun Valley last spring, Shiffrin has won the last three World Cup slaloms. Sunday’s victory was her 66th World Cup win in slalom. She can keep the streak alive next week on home soil as the circuit travels to Colorado for the Copper Cup from Nov. 27-30. The women will race a giant slalom and slalom on the final two days of competition.

“I have to get some GS training again. I’m really excited to go to Copper,” Shiffrin said. “I stay in my own bed for the first time during the season since we used to go Aspen — that’s more than 10 years (ago).”