Fresh off one of the most commanding performances of her career, Mikaela Shiffrin heads to Gurgl, Austria, this Sunday aiming to make it two slalom victories in a row to open the 2025-26 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup season.
The American superstar delivered a masterclass in Levi last Saturday, winning by a massive 1.66 seconds – her largest margin in nearly two years – to claim her 102nd career World Cup victory and a record-extending 65th in slalom. The emotional triumph in Finnish Lapland, complete with her ninth Levi reindeer, marked a resounding return to full fitness after an injury-plagued 2024-25 campaign that saw her sidelined for two months with torn oblique muscles.
Now, less than a week later, Shiffrin will look to carry that momentum into the second women’s slalom of the season. With longtime rival Petra Vlhová still recovering from major knee surgery in early 2024 and no return date confirmed, the door remains wide open for Shiffrin to dominate her signature discipline once again as the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympics approach.
The Gurgl weekend kicks off Saturday with the men’s slalom, featuring newly minted Brazilian star Lucas Pinheiro Braathen – the former Norwegian prodigy who made history last weekend by becoming the first South American-based athlete to win a World Cup race in any winter sport.
How to Watch the Gurgl Slalom (all times Eastern):
Saturday, November 22 – Men’s Slalom
Run 1: 4:30 a.m. – Peacock
Run 2: 7:30 a.m. – Peacock
Sunday, November 23 – Women’s Slalom
Run 1: 4:30 a.m. – Peacock
Run 2: 7:30 a.m. – Peacock
All FIS Alpine Ski World Cup races this season are streamed live in the U.S. on Peacock, with select broadcasts also available on NBC, CNBC, and skiandsnowboard.live.
After a 2024-25 season that saw her reach the historic 100-win milestone despite significant time away from competition, Shiffrin has signaled she will concentrate primarily on slalom and giant slalom this winter – the two events in which she owns Olympic gold – while potentially adding a handful of super-G starts. She is also expected to compete in the new Olympic team combined event in Cortina next February.
If her Levi performance is any indication, the rest of the field will have its work cut out trying to keep the 30-year-old American off the top step of the podium all season long.
