Mikaela Shiffrin produced another imperious performance in the opening World Cup slalom race of the season to kickstart her campaign for Olympic glory in style.
The 30-year-old won a record-extending 102nd Alpine Ski World Cup in Levi, in the Arctic Circle, finishing 1.66 seconds clear of Albania’s Lara Colturi.
Shiffrin was quickest on both her runs, with Colturi second on her 19th birthday and Germany’s Emma Aicher rounding off the podium, in her first World Cup podium finish of her career.
American Shiffrin missed a significant chunk of last season after a serious crash in the giant slalom race in Killington, Vermont, in November 2024.
She sustained an abdominal puncture wound and severe muscle trauma, eventually making her return to racing in January. In February she became the first skier, male or female, to win 100 World Cup races, reaching triple digits in Sestriere.
And she continued where she left off in Levi after the summer break, winning a ninth reindeer - the traditional prize awarded to the winner. She already has eight in a herd near the Lapland resort, named Rudolph, Sven, Mr Gru, Ingemar, Sunny, Lorax, Grogu and Rori.
“I trusted the training and the great work over the summer,” Shiffrin said.
“It was really nice to race today. This season it’s important to start with a really good mentality. I’m just super happy. This is starting to feel more like home.”
65 of her 102 World Cup wins have come in the slalom, 22 in giant slalom, four in downhill and five in super-G, alongside five in parallel and one in combined.
She will be aiming for a third Olympic gold in Milan-Cortina.
