Vlhova trumps Shiffrin in Zagreb slalom
Issued on: Modified:
Zagreb (AFP) – Slovak Petra Vlhova edged American Mikaela Shiffrin, making her return from Covid-19, in the women's World Cup slalom in Zagreb on Tuesday.
Vlhova made the most of wearing the No.1 bib on a piste made difficult because of high temperatures, finishing 0.64sec ahead of Shiffrin on the first run.
Shiffrin, who lies atop the overall World Cup standings, knows the Croatian slope well, having won there four times previously.
And the 26-year-old, who announced last week that she had contracted coronavirus -- spending a period of time in confinement that saw her miss two races in Lienz, Austria, put everything into the second run.
She temporarily topped the combined times before Vlhova kept her nerve to clock a winning 1min 56.99sec for her 24th World Cup victory and 16th in the slalom. It was also the Slovakian's fourth victory in five slalom races this season.
Shiffrin was second, 0.50sec adrift, with Austria's world slalom champion Katharina Liensberger, who also contracted Covid in December, rounding out the podium.
Relatively unknown Canadian Ali Nullmeyer, 17th after the first run, clocked the fastest descent on the second time of asking.
© 2022 AFP