Mikaela Shiffrin skies out in 1st run, misses WCup slalom record

ZAGREB, Croatia – Mikaela Shiffrin’s seven-race winning streak in women’s World Cup slaloms came to end Tuesday, leaving the American one short of the record for most consecutive victories in the discipline.

But the Olympic champion was quick to consider the positives.

“I was never thinking about the streak in the beginning until people started talking about it,” Shiffrin said shortly after straddling a gate about 25 seconds into her first run. “To be honest it is a bit of a relief because nobody is going to talk about it anymore.”

It was the first time in more than four years that Shiffrin failed to finish a slalom race. Her previous DNF came in Semmering, Austria, in December 2012, one week after she had earned her first of 26 career victories.

With a win Tuesday, Shiffrin would have matched the best mark set by Swiss great Vreni Schneider in 1988-89 and Croatian skier Janica Kostelic in 2000-01.

In total, Shiffrin had won the previous 12 slaloms she competed in, but missed five races because of a knee injury last season.

Veronika Velez Zuzulova of Slovakia, who was the runner-up behind Shiffrin in the past three slaloms, posted the fastest time in the opening run. She led Bernadette Schild of Austria by 0.39 seconds and Sarka Strachova of Czech Republic by 0.41.

“It is what it is. Sometimes you don’t ski exactly the way you want to,” Shiffrin said. “I was trying to go forward but I got a little bit tentative in some sections and straddled.”

Never showing much interest in chasing records, Shiffrin still felt sorry about her early exit – though not for herself.

“It’s huge for U.S. ski racing to have somebody who has something like a big streak going on. People start to gain interest,” Shiffrin said. “But for me, I am not doing this for those records. I am doing this for myself. I try to find peace in my own heart. I am on my way there.”

Many of the top slalom skiers struggled on the Sljeme hill. Four out of the first eight starters failed to complete their runs as Swiss duo Wendy Holdener and Michelle Gisin also skied out, as did Nina Loeseth of Norway.

Shiffrin was 0.07 seconds off Velez Zuzulova’s leading time when the mishap occurred.

“Straddling is always your own mistake,” the American said. “Maybe something about the surface, a little bump here and there caught your edge. But in general, I feel like if I am skiing well, there is absolutely no reason I would have straddled. I only have myself to blame. Even with bumpy snow or a little bit of weird sunlight, it is my fault.”

The result won’t affect Shiffrin’s lead in the overall World Cup standings because her closest competitor, defending champion Lara Gut, usually sits out slaloms. Shiffrin leads the Swiss skier by 215 points.