Alpine skiing | Petra Vlhova wins Lienz slalom

(Lienz) Mikaela Shiffrin absent due to COVID-19, Slovakian Petra Vlhova assumed her ultra-favorite status in the Lienz (Austria) World Cup slalom on Wednesday by clinching a 3^e victory this winter.

Best time of the first round, Vlhova edged Austrian world champion Katharina Liensberger by 51/100, and Swiss Michelle Gisin by 68/100.

Vlhova or Shiffrin? The Slovak and the American have now won 36 of the last 39 World Cup slaloms in more than four years. Without Shiffrin, who announced Monday that he tested positive for COVID-19, Vlhova’s victory was almost obvious.

Holder of the title of the big crystal globe, the 26-year-old Slovakian further inflated her statistics on Wednesday with a 50^e World Cup podium, a 15^e victory in slalom (23 in total).

She has won three of the four races contested between tight stakes this season (2^e in Killington behind Shiffrin) and stands out in the classification of the specialty (120 points more than the American).

“It’s very good, I expected a slightly more difficult course, the conditions were perfect. I am confident in slalom at the moment. My first run was not perfect, I knew I had to do more in the second run, ”explained the Slovak at the microphone of the International Ski Federation (FIS).

First podium for Liensberger after COVID-19

At the start of all races last winter, Vlhova has lightened her schedule this season to only compete in the giants and the slaloms. The big goal of the skier from Liptov is to keep cool to become the first Slovakian medalist at the Olympic Games in alpine skiing in just over a month in Beijing (4-20 February).

In eight races this winter she has proven her worth with six podiums, never doing worse than 5^e.

Vlhova is 135 points behind in the general standings over Mikaela Shiffrin. Italian Sofia Goggia is 2^e at 93 points.

Behind the Slovak, the Austrian Katharina Liensberger, world champion and holder of the small globe of the specialty, climbed at home on her first podium of the winter.

Liensberger returned to competition in Lienz after being affected by COVID-19. In the midst of an explosion in global contaminations, the women’s circuit has seen an increase in the number of cases in recent weeks, particularly with leading sportswomen (Shiffrin, Gut-Behrami, Robinson).

The giant on Tuesday and the Lienz slalom on Wednesday were disputed behind closed doors following a decision by the Austrian federation.