MERIBEL – American skier Mikaela Shiffrin took the lead with her first run in the slalom on World Championship Saturday.
Shiffrin opened the race in 52.54 seconds. The Swiss Wendy Holdener was in second place, 0.19 seconds behind.
Laurence St-Germain of Canada was third, 0.61 seconds back.
The rest of the field had more than nine tenths of a second to catch up in the second leg.
Slalom Olympic champion Petra Vlhova of Slovakia was 0.99 seconds back and defending champion Katharina Liensberger of Austria was 1.70 seconds back.
Skiers from lower ranks were still coming down the Roc de Fer course.
The goals for the first heat were scored by Shiffrin’s coach Mark Mitter.
Shiffrin is behind after her third medal at these World Championships Win gold in giant slalom two days ago and Silver in Super-G last week. She didn’t finish her opening event at last week’s World Championships when she staggered in over a goal the slalom part of the combination.
Saturday’s slalom is the last women’s race in the world.
Shiffrin won the world title in slalom four times between 2013 and 2019 and took the bronze medal two years ago. She may become the first skier to win six medals in one discipline at world championships.
Shiffrin was the 2014 Olympic slalom champion and has won a total of 52 World Cup races in this discipline, including five in the current season.
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