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Mikaela Shiffrin Triumphs in Spindleruv Mlýn

by Ines Camacho
Jan 26, 2026

The U.S. skier arrives at the Olympic Games with eight victories in nine events, conceding only one race where she finished in second place.

The Czech resort of Špindlerův Mlýn hosted a historic day, where American Mikaela Shiffrin sealed her ninth Slalom Crystal Globe and extended her legend by reaching 108 World Cup victories.

On the demanding Černá Svatý Petr slope, the racers faced cold, hard, and high-quality snow, albeit extremely technical, where any mistake was costly. Shiffrin built her victory on impeccable execution in both runs, clearly outpacing Swiss Camille Rast and German Emma Aicher, who completed the podium.

The first run, set by Italian Roberto Lorenzi and comprising 65 gates, demanded an extremely high pace from the start. The layout, based on a constant succession of short and medium radius turns, with virtually no transition zones, benefited racers who adopted a clearly offensive approach from the outset.

In the second run, Austrian course designer Robert Berger increased the technical demand with a 63-gate course, characterized by tighter sections and very quick changes of direction. His design aimed to reward technical agility and a firm inside edge, penalizing any body rigidity on a course where precision was crucial.

Mikaela Shiffrin, aware of this accumulated advantage, managed to control risk in the upper part of the course to then increase her pace in the final sector, thus sealing a performance that once again confirmed her absolute dominance in the discipline.

Shiffrin perfectly interpreted this approach, displaying constant fluidity in radius changes that allowed her to make a difference from the first splits and open up a 1.26-second lead over the rest of the chasing pack.

Camille Rast confirmed why she holds the title of current World Champion, adapting skillfully to the demands of the course and securing a high-level second place, 1.67 seconds behind the winner. The third step on the podium went to young German Emma Aicher, who managed the pressure of a course with no room for recovery after micro-errors. A skier destined for greatness, as she scores in all disciplines and has reached the podium in all of them except Giant Slalom, where she nevertheless achieved a top-10 last week.

Mikaela Shiffrin has finally reached an unassailable position for the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, which she will approach with the slalom already settled in terms of sporting objectives.