Mikaela Shiffrin slips from first-run lead to place 3rd in World Cup slalom won by Katharina Truppe

By Canadian Press on March 9, 2025.

ARE, Sweden (AP) — Mikaela Shiffrin let a slalom win slip away Sunday yet set an all-time World Cup record with her 156th finish on a race podium.

Racing through steadily falling snow with a first-run lead, Shiffrin was only 25th-fastest in the second run to finish in third place, 0.19 seconds behind surprise winner Katharina Truppe.

Katharina Liensberger placed second, trailing 0.05 behind her Austria teammate, whose first career World Cup win was earned at age 29.

“Katharina Day!” Shiffrin said in the finish area as she hugged the two racers who beat her.

Shiffrin’s 156th top-3 result in her World Cup career breaks a tie with Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark. Shiffrin also took the all-time wins record from Stenmark and now has 100 to his 86.

Shiffrin needed to win the race to earn 100 race points and stay in contention — though with just a slim chance in the standings – for a ninth career season-long slalom title. She missed four races after a serious crash in giant slalom in November.

With Olympic slalom champion Petra Vlhova skipping the entire season to recover from a knee injury, the door opened for a new World Cup title winner.

The World Cup season-ending last slalom is at Sun Valley, Idaho, on March 27 with four skiers ahead of Shiffrin and within 100 points of the lead to lift the crystal globe trophy.

Title-chasing contenders Zrinka Ljutic and Camille Rast, the world championships gold medalist last month, both were below their best form Sunday and placed 10th and 11th, respectively.

Ahead of going to the United States, the 21-year-old Ljutic leads Rast in the slalom standings by 41 points and will win the title with a top-three result.

Liensberger and Rast’s Swiss teammate Wendy Holdener also could win.

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AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing

The Associated Press