Mikaela Shiffrin unleashed a flawless performance on her home turf Sunday, powering to a commanding victory in the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup women’s slalom at Copper Mountain Resort to notch her 104th career World Cup win and her 67th in the discipline.
The 30-year-old American superstar from nearby Edwards, Colorado, finished with a two-run combined time of 1:42.56, surging ahead by an astonishing 1.57 seconds over Germany’s Lena Dürre in second place. Albania’s rising star Lara Colturi rounded out the podium in third at +1.85, marking back-to-back bronze medals for the 19-year-old after her runner-up finishes in the season’s opening slaloms in Levi, Finland, and Gurgl, Austria.
Shiffrin’s triumph – her third consecutive slalom win to open the 2025-26 Olympic season – came just a day after a frustrating 14th-place finish in Saturday’s giant slalom, where New Zealand’s Alice Robinson claimed victory. Undeterred, Shiffrin led the opening run by 0.31 seconds over Colturi and extended her lead with a blistering second descent under partly cloudy skies, captivating a massive home crowd that packed the East Village base area for the first women’s World Cup at Copper in over two decades.
“This place has always been special to me – training here, racing here for the first time in years, and winning in front of all these fans… it’s pure magic,” Shiffrin said in the finish area, her voice cracking with emotion as she donned the leader’s bib for the fourth time this season. “After yesterday’s GS, I just refocused on what I love most: slalom. The course was tricky with the ice patches, but I felt locked in every gate.”
The win catapults Shiffrin to an unassailable lead in the slalom standings and solidifies her position at the top of the overall World Cup rankings, now with a 48-point cushion over Robinson. It also marks a historic milestone: Shiffrin becomes the first skier in history to surpass 100 World Cup victories, surpassing the legendary Ingemar Stenmark’s long-standing record of 86. Her 67 slalom triumphs further cement her as the undisputed queen of the technical discipline.
Dürre, 32, celebrated her first podium of the season with a gritty performance, battling back from fourth after the first run. “Mikaela is on another level right now – that margin is huge,” Dürre admitted. “But skiing against her pushes everyone to be better. I’m thrilled with silver here in Colorado.”
Colturi, who has now shared the podium with Shiffrin in all three slaloms this season, credited the American for inspiring her breakout campaign. “She’s the benchmark. Today, I gave it everything, but Mikaela? She’s unstoppable.”
Fellow U.S. Ski Team member Paula Moltzan, fresh off a DNF in Saturday’s GS, fought through to a solid 12th place (+2.45), maintaining her top-15 consistency in slalom. “Tough day yesterday, but today was about rebuilding momentum,” Moltzan said. “Seeing Mikaela dominate like that? It fires us all up for the North American swing ahead.”
The Copper Mountain weekend – the first North American stop of the season – drew record crowds, with fans waving signs and chanting “Mikaela! Mikaela!” as Shiffrin crossed the line. The event, just nine weeks before the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics, served as a poignant homecoming for Shiffrin, who trains regularly at the resort.
Next up for the women: a giant slalom and slalom doubleheader in Tremblant, Quebec, next weekend, where Shiffrin will aim to extend her slalom streak to four while chasing redemption in GS after her Copper setback. With the crystal globes and Olympic glory in sight, the American icon shows no signs of slowing down.
