Switzerland’s Camille Rast delivered a masterful performance on the demanding Podkoren 3 course today, claiming victory in the women’s FIS Alpine Ski World Cup slalom and snapping Mikaela Shiffrin’s remarkable six-race winning streak in the discipline. Rast posted the fastest times in both runs to win by 0.14 seconds over Shiffrin, who finished second in a race that highlighted the growing rivalry between the two technical specialists ahead of next month’s Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics.
Rast, the reigning slalom world champion, completed a weekend double after her breakthrough giant slalom win on Saturday – her first in that discipline. Today’s triumph marked her fourth career World Cup victory and third in slalom, solidifying her position as Shiffrin’s primary challenger this season.
Shiffrin, starting with bib 3, had entered the race on a hot streak, having won all five slaloms earlier in the 2025/26 season (Levi, Gurgl, Copper Mountain, Courchevel, and Semmering) plus the final slalom of last season. The American superstar’s dominance had seen her pull away in the slalom standings with perfect 500 points, but Rast’s flawless skiing on a challenging course proved too strong.
“It’s an incredible feeling,” Rast said after the race. “Mikaela is the best ever, and to beat her here means a lot. Both runs felt great – I just focused on my skiing.”
Shiffrin, gracious in defeat, hugged Rast in the finish area and praised her rival’s performance. “She had beautiful skiing today – outstanding in both runs,” Shiffrin noted. “I’m happy with my effort; there were things I wanted to execute technically, and I did that.”
The race followed a giant slalom on Saturday where Rast also prevailed, holding off Austria’s Julia Scheib and American Paula Moltzan, with Shiffrin finishing fifth as she continues to rebuild consistency in that event.
Top Start List Highlights (Pre-Race)
The field featured a stacked lineup based on current World Cup standings:
Bib 1: Lena Dürr (GER) – 180 slalom points
Bib 2: Zrinka Ljutić (CRO) – 72 points
Bib 3: Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) – 500 points (overall leader)
Bib 4: Wendy Holdener (SUI) – 208 points
Bib 5: Paula Moltzan (USA) – 172 points
Bib 6: Camille Rast (SUI) – 262 points
Bib 7: Lara Colturi (ALB) – 280 points
The first run began at 9:30 CET, with the second run at 12:15 CET under sunny but cold conditions on hard-packed snow.
With this result, Shiffrin maintains a strong lead in the slalom and overall standings, but Rast has closed the gap significantly. The women’s technical circuit now gets a brief break before the next slalom in Flachau, Austria, providing more buildup to the Olympic slalom on February 18 in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Fans were treated to an exciting duel that signals the women’s slalom will be one of the most anticipated events at the upcoming Games.
