Mikaela Shiffrin Glides Through Tricky Course To Grab 1st-run Lead In Slalom At World Cup Finals

Mikaela Shiffrin grabbed the first-run slalom lead by rhythmically gliding through a tricky course Thursday at the World Cup finals.

The American ski racing standout finished in a time of 52.05 seconds. Shiffrin has a 0.59-second advantage over Lena Duerr of Germany heading into the final run. Everyone else in the field trails by more than a second.

Shiffrin charged through the course at Sun Valley with a large crowd cheering her on at the bottom. It's been an injury-marred season for Shiffrin, who's competing in her only event at finals.

The 30-year-old Shiffrin has missed four slalom races this season that's taken her out of the running to capture a third straight crystal globe in the discipline. But she can still earn a second- or third-place finish with a strong final run, along with some help.

Croatian ski racer Zrinka Ljutic has the lead in the season-long slalom title race. She finished the first run in 12th place and 1.99 seconds behind Shiffrin's time. The 21-year-old Ljutic captured last season's "rising star" award and is showing that talent ahead of the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics. Camille Rast of Switzerland was in 14th position after the first run. She's 41 points behind Ljutic in the slalom standings.