Weather in Saalbach was once again at its finest; the sun shone, and the snow surface was pristine and held well late into the afternoon. Neither of the two runs contained any serious tricky parts, but the slalom course was longer than usual. At its very end, the slope turned dangerously steep, and tired athletes had to struggle, their legs burning.
The Surprises of the First Run
This was women’s last race at the World Championships, and they desired to make the best of it. Katharina Liensberger (AUT) was the best chance for the home nation to get the medal, and she took the opportunity with both hands. The bottom part of her first run was exceptionally precise, and she maintained her intensity the whole time. Mikaela Shiffrin went down with bib number 3, and a question mark hovered over her name. She did not feel that good, but she had pulled off the classic Shiffrin performance in the team competition.
Slalom Saturday, however, was not her day. She looked a little race-rusty and made some mistakes. After a great start, she lost all strength and drive in the ultimate pitch. Camille Rast (SUI), with bib number 4, was in another league. Her run was very active and perfectly precise, and she sat in the red chair, retaining a 0.58-second gap on the second Liensberger. Wendy Holdener (SUI) and Paula Moltzan (USA) were also positioned well before the second run.
The Precision and Drive of the Second Run
The second run was a thrilling show from the very beginning. Even the Japanese racers with higher bib numbers, Asa Nando and Eren Watanabe, charged from the first second, and almost every racer overran her preceding competitor. The margins were brutal. Reese Bill (GB) held on to the red chair for a long. Zrinka Ljutic (COR) tried hard to make up for the mistakes from her first run but could not maintain the intensity to the finish line. Then Lena Dürr (GER), Katharina Truppe (AUT), and then Andreja Slokar (SLO) were incredibly fast, and with every racer, the audience was thinking: “How could this get any better?”
Paula Moltzan kept her nerves and once again put two good runs together, showing that American women were on fire at the World Championships, but in the end, it was not enough to defeat the Alpine nations.
Wendy Holdener was just as precise, active, and aggressive as in her team competition slalom and 0,88 seconds quicker than Moltzan. To overcome this, the ladies waiting at the top would have to pull something really special.
Mikaela Shiffrin showed that, at the moment, she did not have that extra special to throw at the competition; perhaps she needed more time to recover.
The home crowd hoped Katharina Liensberger would depose Wendy Holdener and defeat the Swiss once more. She did what she could, but in the end, it was only good enough for bronze.
And then another Swiss showed her excellence. Camille Rast demonstrated why she is the slalom tour leader. Not only did she use her massive advantage, she built on it. Rast was active and fast in her movement, precise, and light on her feet, showing no sign of nerves.
Thus, two Swiss took gold and silver medals, and an Austrian, Katharina Liensberger, completed the podium.
The Austrians might have hoped for more, but still, their skiers performed bravely. The fourth place of Paula Moltzan should definitely be considered a success, although only medals count with the World Championships. On the other hand, Mikaela Shiffrin was visibly saddened by her sixth place. Maybe the comeback was just too hasty; perhaps she needed more training; she seemed exhausted, while a few months ago, she would have pulled such a run without breathing hard.
That is just the brutality of the sport, but as we know Shiffrin, she would stand up again. All wounds need time to heal.
