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Petra Vlhova beats Mikaela Shiffrin as she slaloms to a golden Christmas World Cup victory
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Published 22/12/2023 at 15:50 GMT
The Slovakian star beat Mikaela Shiffrin in a thriller. The Olympic champion trailed the American legend by 0.17 seconds after the first run but clawed it back and more in a thrilling finish under the starry night sky. Vlhova eventually prevailed by 0.24s in what proved to be a two-woman contest, with the rest of the field lagging more than two seconds behind.
Image credit: Getty Images
Petra Vlhova staged a brilliant turnaround to upstage Mikaela Shiffrin and claim her second World Cup slalom win of the season in a stormy Courchevel.
The Olympic champion trailed the American legend by 0.17 seconds after the first run but clawed it back and more in a thrilling finish under the starry night sky.
Vlhova eventually prevailed by 0.24s in what proved to be a two-woman contest, with the rest of the field lagging more than two seconds behind.
It marks a welcome return to form for Vlhova, who won the first slalom of the season in Levi, before then failing to finish and losing out to Shiffrin in the subsequent two events.
Her 30th World Cup win, fourth on the all-time list, puts her 50 points behind Shiffrin in the race for the slalom crystal globe - with the two set to battle for the trophy all season.
Kathi Truppe completed the podium in third.
"In the last races I was always there but something was missing," Vlhova said. "I don't want to say 'finally', but after Levi, after the DNF, I was a little bit angry."
"First run was a little bit tough for me because conditions were so-so, but the second run was much better and I just tried to ski as I know, just to show my skiing and that's it."
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