Petra Vlhova celebrated her second World Cup victory in a row. The Slovakian prevailed on Tuesday evening in Flachau ahead of the Swedish Anna Swenn Larsson and the American Mikaela Shiffrin. Katharina Liensberger was fifth as the best ÖSV lady.
The anniversary night slalom on Tuesday in Flachau was demoted to a duel between Petra Vlhova and Mikaela Shiffrin, but it was much more. On the one hand, the expected duel turned into a solo for the 24-year-old Slovakian Vlhova, on the other hand, the Swede Anna Swenn-Larsson beamed from second place as a laughing third and not the US slalom queen Shiffrin. She had to make do with third place with tears of 43 hundredths behind.
And then there were the strong ÖSV women. Six reached the second round, three went into the top eight. Katharina Liensberger even had the chance to carve on the podium in Flachau as in the previous year, but in the second round the Vorarlberg woman fell back to fifth place. “Unfortunately, after the strong first run, I didn’t get on the train so cleanly and I didn’t feel as comfortable anymore,” said Liensberger. Katharina Truppe finished sixth with a hussar ride and said: “Fortunately, I still found the accelerator in the end.” The strong ÖSV result rounded off the sensational Chiara Mair, who finished eighth with her best World Cup result. And that, although the 23-year-old Tyrolean could not ski until recently. Mair was whiplash a year ago when she fell. A cervical vertebra had shifted, which had pressed nerves. “For weeks I could only lie in the dark, even watching TV was too exhausting,” said the Tyrolean. She carefully groped back with training and racing – and was now rewarded at the night slalom in Flachau.
Petra Vlhova was also rewarded with her twelfth World Cup victory, seventh in slalom and third this season. “It was very difficult to win here. Above all, it was difficult for me to remain calm and to keep the focus,” said the “Snow Space Princess”, which appealed to the backdrop of 14,800 spectators along the Hermann Maier World Cup route , Among them were a striking number of Slovak flags. There will only be a continuation of the Vlhova solo or a new edition of the Vlhova-Shiffrin duel in four weeks when the slalom pack is guest in Marburg.
The race in the live ticker for reading:
Hermann Maier FIS World Cup course data:
| Length: | 637 m |
| Begin: | 1,146 m |
| Aim: | 955 m |
| Elevation gain: | 191 m |
| Total output of the racetrack lighting system in full TV mode: | 955 KW |
| Spectators 2019: | 13400 |
| Total prize money | 174,000 euros |
| winner: | 70,500 euros |
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