In the first run of a World Cup slalom in Are, Sweden, Mikaela Shiffrin established a significant lead on Sunday. Season-long title contenders Zrinka Ljutic and Camille Rast found themselves unexpectedly far down the standings. Shiffrin, skiing with the No. 1 bib amidst steady falling snow, set a target 0.43 seconds faster than Lena Duerr, her closest competitor. Sara Hector followed in third place with a 0.48-second gap to make up in the afternoon run.
Shiffrin, aiming for her 101st career World Cup race win and 156th podium finish on the Swedish slope where she secured gold in the 2019 world championships, is also an eight-time World Cup slalom title winner. Despite missing four races due to a serious crash in November, she holds an outside chance to claim another crystal globe trophy, given that Olympic slalom champion Petra Vlhova is sitting out the season to recover from a knee injury.
While Ljutic entered the race with a 39-point lead in the standings over Rast, both athletes finished in 10th and 15th place, more than a second behind Shiffrin. Shiffrin, who trailed Ljutic by 163 points before the race, could remain in the title race if she secures the maximum 100 race points on Sunday, leading up to the season-ending slalom in Sun Valley, Idaho on March 27.
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