U.S. Skier Shiffrin, 17, Claims Third World Cup Slalom of Season

Mikaela Shiffrin of the U.S. claimed her third slalom victory in her first full season on the World Cup skiing circuit at the age of 17.

Shiffrin covered the two runs in Flachau, Austria, yesterday in 1 minute, 51.45 seconds, 0.85 of a second ahead of Sweden’s Frida Hansdotter. Germany’s Maria Hoefl-Riesch, the reigning Olympic slalom champion who led after the first run of the night event, was eliminated when she missed a gate during her second run on the floodlit course.

It was the second straight slalom title for Shiffrin, who also won in Zagreb, Croatia, on Jan. 4 to become the first American to win two World Cup races before the age of 18. Four- time World Cup champion Lindsey Vonn, who skipped the Flachau race, got her first victory when she was 20 years old.

Shiffrin got her breakthrough win on Dec. 20 in Are, Sweden, and now leads the World Cup slalom standings over Slovenia’s Tina Maze, who was fifth in Austria. Maze leads the women’s overall standings and has six wins this season, including one in all five alpine disciplines.

To contact the reporter on this story: Erik Matuszewski in New York at matuszewski@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Sillup at msillup@bloomberg.net