The largest Slovak winter resort Jasná will host the world's women's elite in alpine skiing once again. Next weekend a Slalom and a Giant Slalom World Cup races are going to take place there.
The slopes below Chopok in the Low-Tatras resort of Jasná hosted the Women's World Cup five years ago. In 2016 Eva-Maria Brem won the Giant slalom held in Jasna. The Austrian clocked an aggregate time of 2:30.60 to best Germany's Viktoria Rebensburg (+0.27), then her closest rival for the discipline globe. Italy's Federica Brignone, who was third after the opening run 1.11 seconds behind Brem, rounded out the podium, 0.52 seconds behind.
The day before Mikaela Shiffrin continued her unbeaten 2016 season streak in slalom with a demonstrative victory on Slovakia.
Shiffrin dominated both slalom runs to finish ahead of Switzerland's Wendy Holdener and local favorite Veronika Velez Zuzulova, who were respectively 2.36 and 2.77 seconds off the winning pace.
Giant Slalom. Saturday, March 6th, 1st run 9:30, 2nd run 12:30 (CET)
Slalom. Sunday, March 7th, 1st run 9:30, 2nd run 12:30 (CET)
Petra Vlhová is leading the slalom standings (400 points), but Katharina Liensberger (360), Mikaela Shiffrin (335), and Michelle Gisin (330) are all within 100 points. Last season, Vlhová won the slalom crystal globe, her first globe in any discipline.
Vlhová won six of the last eight Slalom races held in the World Cup and finished in fourth place in Semmering and Flachau this season. She won the silver medal in Slalom at the world championships in Cortina. She could claim four slalom victories in a single World Cup season for the first time.
Mikaela Shiffrin won the most recent slalom event held in the World Cup, in Flachau on 12 January. Shiffrin has won 44 World Cup slalom events, which is already an all-time record among men and women. In her last 48 slalom races in the World Cup, Shiffrin finished on the podium 44 times, 35 of them at the top of it.
Shiffrin won the bronze medal at the world championships in Cortina d'Ampezzo.
Katharina Liensberger won the Slalom and Parallel Giant Slalom world titles at the world championships in Cortina d'Ampezzo last month. These were her first individual victories at the world level.
Liensberger has claimed seven World Cup podiums in the Slalom but has yet to achieve her first victory. She can become the fifth active female skier to win a World Cup slalom event, after Mikaela Shiffrin, Petra Vlhová, Michelle Gisin, and Erin Mielzynski.
Michelle Gisin won the slalom in Semmering last December, her first World Cup win in any discipline. The last Swiss woman to win multiple Slalom events in a World Cup season was Vreni Schneider in 1994-1995.
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