Vlhova denies Shiffrin chance to set women's alpine World Cup victories record
CBC
Mikaela Shiffrin will have to wait a bit longer to celebrate a record-breaking win No. 83 on the women's World Cup circuit.
"I don't feel very well, but that is not surprising at the end of a long stretch of races. And no matter what, Petra skied amazing tonight and she deserves the victory," Shiffrin told Austrian TV before feeling even worse and going into a tent adjacent to the finish area to vomit.
She then did not speak to other reporters.
"Ideally, there is not a story about how I'm feeling. I earned the second place and she earned the victory tonight, and that was quite an amazing show," Shiffrin said in the brief TV interview. "It was a little bit difficult this evening to perform top-top, but even then, I felt some turns that I loved to feel."
WATCH | Vlhova puts Shiffrin World Cup wins record chase on hold in Austria:
Shiffrin matched Lindsey Vonn's women's record of 82 race victories by winning a giant slalom in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, on Sunday, but wasn't able to produce another win in her best discipline, slalom, to move past her former teammate.
Her head coach, Mike Day, said Shiffrin was "not feeling tip-top" even before the race.
"It was good skiing, for sure not her best, but it was good skiing," Day said.
Three Canadians completed the second run. Toronto's Ali Nullmeyer led the way in 11th in 1:55.23. Amelia Smart of Invermere, B.C., was 17th (1:55.80) and Laurence St-Germain of Saint-Ferréol-les-Neiges, Que., placed 22nd (2:00.21) after sitting seventh in the opening run.
About 13,200 fans attended the race in the hometown of Hermann Maier, one of Austria's most successful racers. Marlies Raich, a former Austrian slalom standout when competing under her maiden name Schild and Shiffrin's biggest idol growing up, was in attendance.
Vlhova had the fastest time in the first run and then extended her lead over Shiffrin for her first win this season. The Slovakian skier finished 0.43 seconds ahead of Shiffrin, while Lena Duerr of Germany finished 0.85 back in third.
"To be honest, I loved watching [Vlhova] ski this run. I think it was the perfect combination of aggressive and also smart," Shiffrin said.
The American still leads the discipline standings after winning four of the seven slaloms so far this season, and holds a big lead of 399 points over Vlhova in the overall standings.
Shiffrin's next chance to break the record will come in a super-G in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, in 10 days. She plans to sit out speed races at another Austrian venue, St. Anton, this weekend.
