Slalom in Spindleruv Mlyn: Aicher third, Shiffrin wins

After her next coup, a smile crossed Emma Aicher’s face. In the slalom in Špindlerův Mlýn, Czech Republic, the 22-year-old all-rounder raced to third place – and thus right into the circle of contenders for a medal at the Olympic Games in this discipline. For the third time this season, Aicher finished third in a slalom.

Only the two best goal runners of the winter were faster than Aicher in the last slalom before the Olympics: Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) also outclassed world champion Camille Rast (Switzerland) in her seventh victory in the eighth race – by 1.67 seconds. At the same time, she won the small crystal ball for the overall World Cup victory in the slalom for the ninth time. Aicher was 2.18 seconds behind Shiffrin – and 0.03 seconds ahead of fourth-placed Katharina Troupe (Austria).

While Aicher is now one of the medal contenders in downhill, super-G and slalom, Lena Dürr, who started the season optimistically, showed a slight upward trend with tenth place. She had been in a form crisis since her elimination from the slalom in Courchevel in mid-December, but now she was back in the top ten for the first time – although she was 1.5 seconds behind Aicher.

Aicher had already impressed the day before. In the giant slalom, which the now four-time season winner Julia Scheib from Austria won, she finished tenth – so Aicher now has a place in the top ten in all four disciplines.

Aicher could compete at the Olympic Games five times: In Cortina d’Ampezzo, in addition to downhill, super-G, giant slalom and slalom, the team combination will also be run at the winter games for the first time. A team consists of a downhill skier and a slalom runner. Shiffrin remains the undisputed slalom dominator. As a record winner, she now has 108 wins.