‘This Is Not OK’: Shiffrin Wins Again but Tears Into Slalom Course

Mikaela Shiffrin extended her remarkable run in women’s slalom racing on Sunday night, claiming a sixth consecutive World Cup victory in the discipline at Semmering. Yet while the American once again stood on the top step of the podium, her dominant performance was accompanied by strong criticism of what she described as unsafe and unfair course conditions that, in her view, put many competitors at unnecessary risk.

Shiffrin delivered another trademark comeback to secure the win, overturning a modest first run to post the fastest time under the lights. Her combined time was just 0.09 seconds quicker than Switzerland’s Camille Rast, the reigning world champion, who pushed the American all the way to the finish line. Teenage sensation Lara Colturi, the Italian-born Albanian skier who has rapidly emerged as a genuine title contender, finished third, 0.57 seconds adrift.

Mikaela Shiffrin was fastest in the second run to edge Swiss skier Camille Rast by 0.09sec. Photograph: Millo Moravski/Agence Zoom/Getty Images

Despite celebrating her 106th career World Cup victory, Shiffrin made it clear afterward that she was deeply unhappy with how the race had unfolded. Speaking to Austrian television, she did not hold back in her assessment of the conditions on the Panorama course. While acknowledging that her early starting position on the first run spared her the worst of the deteriorating surface, she stressed that many of her fellow competitors were not so fortunate.

“For me, starting with a low bib, it wasn’t a huge problem,” Shiffrin explained. “But for the women who had to start later, with bib numbers in the teens, twenties, or even higher, it simply wasn’t OK. The snow was breaking apart badly, and that’s not something athletes should have to deal with at this level.”

Warm temperatures throughout the day forced race organizers to inject water and salt into the snow in an attempt to stabilize the surface. However, those measures proved insufficient. As the afternoon session progressed, large sections of the course began to crumble, particularly in the lower half, making it increasingly difficult—and potentially dangerous—for the later starters to ski aggressively.

The scale of the problem was reflected in the statistics. Only 40 of the 77 athletes who started the opening run managed to make it to the finish. A time deficit of nearly six seconds was still enough to qualify for the second run, underlining just how extreme the conditions had become. Such a high attrition rate is highly unusual in World Cup slalom racing and immediately raised concerns across the field.

Conditions did improve slightly for the night session, which took place several hours later as temperatures dropped. Still, the damage had already been done. Shiffrin described the entire day as mentally draining and emotionally frustrating, not only for herself but for the wider group of competitors.

“It was a very challenging and distracting day,” she said. “I’m thankful that there were no serious injuries, but when you see how the surface was breaking apart, especially in the first run, it’s hard not to be upset. The second run was better, but the overall situation shouldn’t have happened in the first place.”

On the sporting side, Shiffrin’s victory once again demonstrated her resilience and technical mastery. She started the race fourth and was more than half a second off the lead after the first run, having lost significant time in the lower section of the course. Later, she admitted that she had made mistakes by pushing too hard and skiing too round in places where a more direct line was possible.

“It’s a tough slope,” she said. “I probably overskied a bit in the first run. I was trying too hard to make something happen instead of letting the course come to me.”

Under pressure in the second run, however, Shiffrin corrected those errors. She attacked with greater precision, controlled her line more effectively, and stopped the clock with a time that ultimately proved unbeatable. Even then, she admitted she was surprised by the result.

“It didn’t feel good out there,” she said. “It felt like a fight all the way down. I honestly didn’t expect to see the green light when I crossed the line.”

The win marked her fifth straight victory at the start of the season and continued a stretch of dominance that dates back to the end of last winter. Shiffrin closed the previous campaign with a slalom victory and then opened the current Olympic season by winning the first four races, doing so by an average margin of around 1.5 seconds. Sunday’s narrow success was far less comfortable, but no less significant.

With the result, Shiffrin further extended her lead in the slalom standings. She now holds a 220-point advantage over Colturi, with five races still to come—three scheduled for January and two in March—before the Milan–Cortina Winter Olympics. Given that a single World Cup win is worth 100 points, the American has put herself in a commanding position as the season progresses.

Elsewhere, Croatia’s Zrinka Ljutic, last season’s winner at Semmering and the reigning slalom globe holder, finished eighth, more than three and a half seconds behind Shiffrin. It was a solid but unspectacular result for the Croatian, who has struggled to match her best form so far this winter.

For the United States team, the race brought mixed fortunes. Paula Moltzan, who had been seventh after the first run, failed to finish the second after straddling a gate. Her exit came just a day after she suffered a heavy crash in the giant slalom on the same hill, adding to concerns about the demanding conditions at the venue.

Attention now turns to Slovenia, where the women’s World Cup circuit moves next for a giant slalom and slalom in Kranjska Gora. The hope among athletes and coaches alike is that the focus will return to performance rather than course safety.

Beyond the racing itself, Shiffrin’s comments reignited a broader debate about how competitions are staged in increasingly unpredictable weather conditions. As winters grow warmer and snow management becomes more complex, athletes are increasingly vocal about the need for organizers and governing bodies to prioritize safety and fairness over rigid scheduling.

Shiffrin’s frustration was not rooted in self-interest, but in concern for the integrity of the sport and the wellbeing of her competitors. Her message was clear: World Cup racing should challenge the best skiers in the world, but it should never do so at the expense of safety.