Sports

Route 66 for Shiffrin with Bansko super-G win

January 26, 2020
SkiingShiffrin on her way to a 66th World Cup win. — AFP
SkiingShiffrin on her way to a 66th World Cup win. — AFP

BANSKO, Bulgaria — American Mikaela Shiffrin notched up her 66th World Cup victory by scorching the women's super-G in Bansko on Sunday to wrap up an incredible weekend's racing.

Shiffrin, winner of Friday's first downhill at the Bulgarian resort and fourth in the second downhill Saturday, timed 1min 10.88sec.

She came in 0.29sec ahead of Marta Bassino, who was also second in the Italian podium sweep of Saturday's downhill, with Switzerland's five-time world medalist Lara Gut-Behrami, at 0.70sec, making the podium for the first time this season.

"It was a perfect weekend for me," said Shiffrin. "The surface was just amazing, perfect, especially for super-G.

"I had to be really aggressive, it wasn't always perfectly clean, but it was the fastest way I could ski this hill and this course."

Shiffrin added: "I've had a wonderful time here. These kinds of races over the weekend, it's really challenging, they're very difficult, that's what makes the victories, the good races, so much sweeter."

But she admitted to sometimes feeling like a failure.

"This season has been a really big challenge, every single race there are so many women who are skiing really fast, really strong," Shiffrin said.

"Every race is such a big fight and I haven't been the one on top of this fight every time. Certainly I've been feeling that the expectations that I have and other people may have, I'm not quite living up to that and it's hard not to think I'm failing sometimes."

Shiffrin's victory was just her fourth in the super-G, the second of the speed events after the downhill, her last win in the discipline coming in January 2019 in Cortina.

"The thing I'm most proud of right now is that I now have wins in slalom, giant, super-G and downhill — I never expected that to really happen," the American said.

Shiffrin, a technical specialist who has proven increasingly adept at the speed events, saw her result further consolidate her spot on top of the overall World Cup standings.

She now sits on 1,225 points, with Italian Federica Brignone — who fell in the super-G — second on 855pts.

Slovakia's Petra Vlhova is in third on 830pts before a big drop to Bassino (620) and the Switzerland's Wendy Holdener (493).

The win also saw Shiffrin leapfrog five places to go top of the super-G standings, on 186pts, ahead of Swiss Corinne Suter (150) and Germany's Viktoria Rebensburg (148).

The win was the 66th on the World Cup circuit for the 24-year-old, a two-time Olympic gold medallist and current three-time reigning overall World Cup champion who stands second behind now-retired compatriot Lindsey Vonn (82) for number of races won.

Shiffrin now sits just one victory behind now-retired Austrian Marcel Hirscher's 67 World Cup wins, bettered only by Vonn and Swedish legend Ingemar Stenmark (86).

Shiffrin's rival in the technical events, Vlhova, threatened from start number 31, the Slovak close in the early interim timings before falling away on the bottom section to eventually finish sixth, 1.13sec off the pace.

Italy's Elena Curtoni, who claimed her maiden World Cup victory by winning Saturday's downhill from start number 28, finished seventh. — AFP


January 26, 2020
HIGHLIGHTS
Sports
15 hours ago

Saudi Pro League postpones Al-Hilal vs. Al-Ahli match; Al-Ahli rejects rescheduling

Sports
15 hours ago

Al Ain ends Al Hilal's record streak with a 4-2 win in AFC Champions League semi-final

Sports
day ago

AFC postpones Al Ain vs Al Hilal semi-final match due to weather conditions