KRANJSKA GORA, Slovenia (AP) — Petra Vlhova cemented her status as slalom season leader with her fifth win in six races Sunday, just one month out from the Beijing Olympics.
The reigning world champion from Slovakia won the penultimate Slalom before the games by denying Swiss Wendy Holdener the top spot with her first career victory.
Two Canadians cracked the Top 10. Ali Nullmeyer of Toronto was sixth and Erin Mielzynski of Collingwood, Ont., was ninth.
Mikaela Shiffrin finished third after the opening race, but ran in a seemingly fast second race until the American scored a goal.
It was the first time in nearly four years that Shiffrin could not finish a Slalom. In January, she finished second in a race at Lenzerheide, the last Slalom before the Pyeongchang Olympics.
Shiffrin defeated Vlhova and won her home race in Killington, Vermont in November, but all the other Slaloms this Season have gone the Slovak’s way.
“I’m always trying to be the best, to be the fastest in the race. I am particularly pleased with my second run,” Vlhova said.
Eight hundredths of a second behind Holdener, Vlhova had the fastest time of a second to put pressure on the Swiss leader as the last starter.
In their 100th anniversary. In the Career Slalom, Holdener maintained her lead in the first half of her race, but finished 0.23 behind Vlhova. Anna Swenn Larsson of Sweden was 1.06 seconds behind.
Swenn Larsson returned to the Podium for the first time in almost two years after being suspended last Season with a knee injury.
“It’s been a long way with my injury last season,” Swenn Larsson said. “I’m super happy, it’s awesome. I’m proud to be back.”
Vlhova called the race a “big action” after criticizing track conditions after days of snowfall in the Slovenian resort.
“This morning I was a little angry, because when I saw the conditions, they were not perfect, not like in a world cup race,” Vlhova said.
“In the second round, I did everything perfectly. At the end of the day, it’s another win, so I’m happy because my team is doing everything to make sure I’m in perfect shape.”
It was the Slovak’s 25th career victory. She leads the discipline standings by 240 points over second-ranked Shiffrin. However, the American remains at the top of the overall standings with a 35-point lead over Vlhova.
World Cup and Slalom world champion Katharina Liensberger of Austria also scored a goal in her second race.
The result meant another heartbreak for Holdener.
The Swiss Has Won 29 Slalom podiums without winning a race. No other skier in the history of the World Cup, female or male, had more than three best results in a single discipline without a win.
“I skied really well, I made one mistake too many, but I tried, so I’m happy,” Holdener said. “I think I gave myself the chance to win, so I’m happy.”
Her Swiss teammate Michelle Gisin was eliminated early in her first run by ruling out the third goal.
Last season, Gisin became the first Swiss skier to win a women’s slalom in nearly 19 years. Gisin and Liensberger are, besides Shiffrin and Vlhova, the only female skiers to have won a Slalom since January.
Shiffrin’s second downhill left Paula Moltzan as the U.S. ski team’s top finisher on the 13th. Moltzan suffered a broken wrist and skied with the bar of his left glove. She also braved a sore knee after her giant slalom fall Saturday on the same springboard.
At the event, which had been moved from another Slovenian resort, Maribor, due to the lack of snow, no audience was allowed.
The next race will be a night slalom in Schladming, Austria, on Tuesday, at an event moved from Flachau, affected by a recent increase in recent times infections.