CARRABASSETT VALLEY – With a crowd of hundreds waiting at the finish line, Olympic gold medalist, Mikaela Shiffrin, earned her third national slalom title in the U.S. Alpine Championship race Saturday at Sugarloaf.
Shiffrin crushed the rest of the field today, finishing her second run more four seconds ahead of teammate and runner-up Paula Moltzan. It was the second medal of these championships for Moltzan, as it was for third place finisher Megan McJames.
Shiffrin delivered a touching speech at last night’s athlete banquet that paid tribute to the sacrifices parents make to support their young ski racers’ quest for greatness in an unforgiving sport, and left guests on the verge of tears. She made her own parents proud today as she claimed her fourth career national title, and further solidified her reputation as the United States’ most decorated female slalom skier.
“What I wouldn’t do to see that run again,” Shiffrin’s father, Jeff Shiffrin, said following the conclusion of the first run.
Second out of the start gate during Saturday’s first run, Shiffrin blew through the finish line with a blistering time of 45.38, and a 2.62 second lead heading into the second run.
A challenging course and fast snow conditions claimed 16 racers who did not finish the first run.
Frontrunner after her first run, Shiffrin ran 28th in the second run, trumping a field of 23 finishers by more than 26 seconds. Teammate and closest finisher, Paula Moltzan was 4.31 seconds behind Shiffrin at the end of the day.
“She was flying,” Tom Kelly, U.S. Ski Team vp of communications, tweeted out after the first run.
The men will take to the hill for the final event of this week’s championships tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. For a complete schedule of the U.S. Alpine Championships, please visit www.sugarloaf.com/usalpine.
