SEMMERING, Austria – Michelle Gisin earned her maiden World Cup win on Tuesday in Semmering, Austria, becoming the first Swiss skier to win a women’s slalom in nearly 19 years.
Gisin trailed first-run leader Mikaela Shiffrin by two-hundredths of a second but posted the second-fastest time in the final run as the American dropped to third, 0.57 behind. Gisin’s win ended a streak of 28 slaloms that were won by either Shiffrin, who triumphed 19 times, or Petra Vlhova. That streak started in January 2017.
“I broke the incredible run of two giants,” Gisin said. “It’s a perfect day.”
Vlhova was nearly nine-tenths off the pace in sixth after the first run before improving to fourth. Vlhova had won all five slaloms since Shiffrin last won in Lienz, Austria, one year ago.
Katharina Liensberger posted the fastest time in the final run and the Austrian trailed Gisin by 0.11 in second.
It was the first slalom win for the Swiss women’s team since Marlies Oester shared victory with Kristina Koznick of the United States at a race in Berchtesgaden, Germany, in January 2002. The Swiss drought lasted for 162 slaloms.
