US teen Shiffrin triumphs in Flachau slalom

FLACHAU, Austria (AFP) –

Mikaela Shiffrin of USA competes during the first run of the FIS World Cup women’s slalom in Flachau on January 15, 2013. Shiffrin claimed victory in the women’s World Cup slalom on Tuesday after Germany’s Maria Hoefl-Riesch crashed out on the testing second leg.

American teen Mikaela Shiffrin claimed victory in the women’s World Cup slalom on Tuesday after Germany’s Maria Hoefl-Riesch crashed out on the testing second leg.

Shiffrin timed a combined total of 1min 51.45sec to finish 0.85sec ahead of Sweden’s Frida Hansdotter, with Finn Tanja Poutiainen completing the podium at 1.10sec.

It was a third victory this season for the sensational 17-year-old Shiffrin after slalom wins in Are and Zagreb, and it sees her take a shock lead in the discipline’s standings on 436 points ahead of Slovenian Tina Maze, on 355.

“A year ago I could not have imagined to be in such a position,” said Shiffrin, who joins Austrian legend Anne-Marie Moser-Proell who was exactly the same age when she won three World Cup races in a season.

“But I have worked really hard and I have succeeded.

“My coaches talked to me about her (Moser-Proell) and I did some research on her on wikipedia, notably about her results. She is probably the greatest skier of all time. It is for me now to make my own mark.

“I often watched World Cup races with my parents when I was small. That has helped me to stay calm at the start.”

Reigning Olympic slalom Hoefl-Riesch took a convincing lead from the first run into the second, and she looked set for victory, with a 0.66sec deficit at the last intermediary, until she missed a gate two-thirds of the way down the floodlit Griessenkar slope.

Maze, who last weekend became only the sixth woman skier to win races in all five alpine skiing disciplines with victory in the World Cup super-G, finished fifth at 1.26sec to consolidate her massive lead in the overall World Cup standings, on 1,334 points.

Hoefl-Riesch stands second on 744, while Shiffrin leapfrogged vaunted compatriot Lindsey Vonn, not racing here, into fifth place on 526pts.