Shiffrin makes it five from five with another Slalom masterclass
Dec 28, 2025·Alpine Skiing
Mikaela Shiffrin’s extraordinary stranglehold on Slalom racing continued apace on Sunday, as she made it five wins from five races this season – but she was pushed harder than ever in some tricky conditions in Semmering to get the job done.
Shiffrin struggled on the first run, finishing fourth, but second time round she did what she has done so often – producing exemplary skiing to jump from 0.54 seconds adrift of the leader to 0.09 seconds ahead.
Camille Rast’s (SUI/Head) was the athlete unlucky enough to come narrowly second this time, having produced two excellent performances.
19-year-old Lara Colturi’s (ALB/Blizzard), meanwhile, continued her fine season with two solid runs on icy snow to secure third.
“It was a really big fight”
Conditions were difficult and changeable. “It’s a very strange race,” said Shiffrin after the first run. “Challenging. It’s going to be bumpy again.”
The second run, however, proved far more skiable than the first. Reigning Slalom champion Zrinka Ljutic (CRO/ Atomic) showed signs of her old self in the second run to lead for a while, eventually finished eighth.
Home pair Katharina Liensberger (AUT/ Rossignol) and Katharina Truppe (AUT/ Voelkl) also skied solidly – finishing fourth and fifth respectively.
But Shiffrin was told to be aggressive from the start on the race radio before going, and she delivered. She pushed up through the gears, produced snappier turns than the crowd had seen all day, and only made the smallest of errors where others drifted wide.
Colturi was powerful and balanced; Rast was as aggressive, but a late minor slip on the late flat section cost her that vital tenth of a second.
Shiffrin had dominated the other four Slaloms this season (winning by 1.23 seconds or more) – this one went to the wire. But her 106th Audi FIS World Cup victory was in the bag.
Was it the perfect end to the calendar year? “Today was hard, you could see the skiing from these women,” said Shiffrin. “It was tough conditions, it was a really big fight and the pressure was on. I did my best, best possible run. Perfect? I don’t know it that’s the right word, but it certainly was an end.”
Where did she make the difference? “I honestly don’t know. It didn’t feel, like, good. I didn’t expect to come down with the green light. It’s been one of those days. Thank you to the crowd for cheering, for the fans for being so enthusiastic, because on days like this, honestly, we do it for you.”
She has great praise for Rast. “I have so much respect for her, I love to watch her ski right now,” said Shiffrin. “I made one mistake on this course in those conditions, and the mistake she made on the final pitch, that was the ticket. What I did better was one less mistake.”
The stats keep racking up: having been victorious in the final slalom race of last season, in Sun Valley, Shiffrin has now won six Audi FIS World Cup Slalom races in a row – a record matched by herself across the 2018/19 and 2019/20 season.
She is a record holder at this venue, too: Shiffrin now has four wins in Semmering, with her nearest rivals having just two.
“0.09 is not a lot"
Rast is getting better and better. She has now made six podiums in her last 14 Slalom races.
“A good weekend,” she summed up. “0.09 is not a lot. But keep working and maybe it can go on my side. I hope so, she is really good and you have to be really good to push on two runs from top to bottom.
“The smallest mistake, and first place is there. You need two runs without mistake from top to bottom.”
Colturi is also on an upward curve. She may still be seeking Albania’s first ever Audi FIS World Cup win – this was her 7th podium, and her fourth in five races – but she is getting closer.
On the day Shiffrin bagged her 69th slalom win, Colturi made her 67th World Cup start. She went full tilt to secure a fine third place.
“In the last few races I’ve been doing much more, and I was just trying my limit. But it was impossible [to win], I just tried to do my best,” she said.
“The snow was a little bit better in the second run so the mindset was to go fast and just to do as I am doing in training, but the second run was too tough.
“That’s amazing to finish the year with a podium, and now I’ll do the next few races with the same mindset.
“I’m getting close each race, I’m feeling really good in training. I’m really fast with a good mindset and power.”
She has an ideal role model to learn from in today’s winner. “She is really amazing,” said Colturi of Shiffrin. “I am trying to copy everything about her. Since I was five years old I’ve been trying, so I’m used to it.”
The New Year’s first slalom – 4 January in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, will see the next chance to try and finally defeat the greatest of all time.
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