CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy – American Mikaela Shiffrin ended her winning streak in the slalom at the World Championships on Saturday by Katharina Liensberger when the title returned to Austria after ten years.
Shiffrin had to settle for bronze after winning slalom gold on a record of four consecutive worlds since Marlies Raich – who competes under her maiden name Schild – won it in 2011.
This time, Shiffrin finished with 1.98 seconds behind Liensberger, who had the fastest times in both runs. Petra Vlhova, the overall and slalom World Cup leader of Slovakia, was one second behind the Austrian for silver.
After her triumph in Tuesday’s simultaneous event, Liensberger became a double world champion, but she has not yet won the World Cup.
“I really gave it today,” Liensberger said. “I worked so hard for it, every day in preparation. It’s amazing that it’s all coming back. If you really want something, the whole universe, it’s just for you. ”
Shiffrin had earlier won gold in the joint event and won silver in the giant slalom after opening the world with bronze in super-G. It was her only fifth female skier to win four medals in one world, and the first time since Swedish standout Anja Parson achieved the feat 14 years ago.
“It’s amazing,” Shiffrin said. ‘I do not think there was ever a time when I could say’ I win four medals in one world championship. ‘But it’s one thing to dream about the medals, but at the moment when it’s important, it’s very special to ski well enough to do it, especially for the world championships to do it four times. ‘
Shiffrin’s previous world title took place in her world record 2018-19 season and won 17 races en route to her third overall title.
This season is different for the American. She took a ten-month break last year after the death of her father, Jeff Shiffrin, followed by the coronavirus pandemic and a back injury.
“If it was last year, I might have been disappointed, but not so grateful for the good moments in the day,” Shiffrin said. ‘Maybe’ normal ‘will just change all the time. I have a different opinion on what normal means. Here, during the last two weeks, every day has had something special, and it’s something to smile about. ‘