Mikaela Shiffrin suffered one of her most surprising giant slalom results in years on Sunday, finishing a distant sixth in the Killington World Cup – 1.65 seconds behind a dominant Alice Robinson of New Zealand.
The American superstar, racing in front of a raucous home crowd that braved sub-freezing temperatures, lost time with an uncharacteristic wobble midway down the second run on Superstar, crossing the line in a combined 2:17.83. Robinson, 23, posted a flawless final run to win in 2:16.18, with Federica Brignone (ITA) second (+0.68) and Sara Hector (SWE) third (+0.91).
“It just didn’t connect like I wanted it to,” a visibly disappointed Shiffrin told reporters in the finish area. “I felt good in training, I felt good this morning, but when it mattered I couldn’t quite put the pieces together the way I know I can.”
The result marks Shiffrin’s worst GS finish since January 2022 (also a sixth place in Kranjska Gora) and ends a remarkable streak of 22 consecutive World Cup giant slalom podiums dating back to March 2021. It is only the third time in the last six seasons she has finished outside the top five in the discipline.
Robinson, meanwhile, claimed her third career World Cup victory and first in giant slalom, becoming the first New Zealander to win a World Cup GS since Claudia Riegler in 1997.
Final top 6 – Killington GS
Alice Robinson (NZL) – 2:16.18
Federica Brignone (ITA) – +0.68
Sara Hector (SWE) – +0.91
Thea Louise Stjernesund (NOR) – +1.32
Julia Scheib (AUT) – +1.53
Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) – +1.65
Shiffrin remains the overall World Cup leader by a comfortable margin and is expected to return to the start gate next weekend in Tremblant, Canada, for back-to-back slaloms – the discipline in which she holds virtually every record in the sport.
For one afternoon on her favorite hill, however, even the greatest skier of her generation was human.
