LEVI, Finland (Reuters) – Slovakia’s Petra Vlhova was in a class of her own on Saturday as she finished the women’s World Cup slalom race in Levi, Finland, more than a second in front of her rivals, while favourite American Mikaela Shiffrin came home fourth.
The slopes at the Lapland ski resort were perfect for Vlhova, who won the race 1.41 seconds ahead of Lena Duerr from Germany with a total time of one minute 50.59 seconds.
Austria’s Katharina Liensberger came third, 1.55 seconds behind Vlhova.
The 28-year-old Vlhova took the lead in the first run and extended it in the second, finding her rhythm from the gates and building momentum as she descended.
Shiffrin, who recently had a practice run tumble, couldn’t maintain the pace in the course’s final stretch and ultimately trailed Vlhova by 1.70 seconds.
The men’s downhill race in Zermatt-Cervinia, on the border between Switzerland and Italy, was cancelled earlier on Saturday due to heavy snowfall and winds.
(Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
