Shiffrin wins slalom on home Colorado snow to remain perfect in the Olympic season

COPPER MOUNTAIN, Colo. (AP) — American standout Mikaela Shiffrin dominated a World Cup slalom on home Colorado snow Sunday to remain perfect in the discipline during the Olympic season.

Shiffrin extended her winning streak in slalom to four races after also claiming the opening two races this season and the final event of last season.

It was Shiffrin’s record-extending 104th World Cup victory and her 67th in slalom — extending the discipline record, too.

Skiing through moderate snowfall, Shiffrin added to her first-run advantage and won by a whopping 1.57 seconds ahead of Lena Duerr of Germany, who moved up from ninth after the opening leg.

“Go Mikaela we love you,” said one sign held up by fans in the finish area at Copper Mountain — which is a half-hour drive from Shiffrin’s hometown of Edwards, Colo.

“I could hear you guys from the start. Thank you,” Shiffrin told the crowd after the second run. “I felt perfect this run. This was was just lights out amazing.”

Teenager Lara Colturi of Albania moved up from fourth after the opening run to finish third, 1.85 behind, despite a big mistake early in her second run. Wendy Holdener finished fourth and Anna Swenn Larsson was fifth.

It was Shiffrin’s first victory in Colorado in more than a decade — since she won two slaloms at Aspen in November 2015. Overall, 12 of her 104 World Cup wins have come in the U.S.

Shiffrin also won the slalom at the 2015 world championships at Vail-Beaver Creek, Colo., in February of that year.

It's the fourth time in Shiffrin's career that she has won the opening three slaloms of a season. She won the opening five slaloms in 2018-19, the opening four in 2016-17 and the opening three in 2019-20.

The other American finishers were Paula Moltzan in eighth and Nina O'Brien in 26th.

Shiffrin is expected to be one of the stars of the Feb. 6-22 Milan Cortina Olympics, where women’s Alpine skiing will be held in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.