Petra Vlhova roared from behind to win the Olympic women’s slalom by 0.08sec on Wednesday only hours after Mikaela Shiffrin’s bid for a history-making medal haul in Beijing was left in tatters when the American star was disqualified from a second straight race.
Vlhova, a six-time world champion medallist who had never previously made an Olympic podium, was 0.72sec back in eighth after the first run. But the 26-year-old surged into gold-medal position after a masterful second descent down the steep technical course known as the Ice River with a combined time of 1min 44.98sec, then watched tensely from the finish area as the seven rivals who clocked faster morning times took their best shots.
