Semmering—American Mikaela Shiffrin failed to capitalise on her first-run lead in the World Cup slalom at Semmering on Tuesday, finishing third after a floodlit second run.
Swiss rival Michelle Gisin grabbed a surprise victory with a combined time of 1min 42.05sec as Austrian Katharina Liensberger came second at 0.11sec and Shiffrin slipped to third, 0.57sec off the pace.
Petra Vlhova finished fourth but retained the overall World Cup lead. Vlhova and Shiffrin had won the past 28 World Cup slalom races between them.
“I have stopped a series of wins from two giants, and it’s my first World Cup win in eight years, so I feel amazing,” said all-rounder Gisin.
The victory marks the 27-year-old Gisin’s first World Cup win but she did win the 2018 combined Olympic gold in terrible conditions in South Korea.
Shiffrin, a three-time overall World Cup winner, is seeking a 68th World Cup victory which would move her ahead of Austria’s Marcel Hirscher into stand-alone third on the all-time winners’ list.
Shiffrin has had a difficult 2020 was marked by the sudden death of her father in February and she finishes the year without a single slalom win.
The 25-year-old is still behind compatriot Lindsey Vonn’s 82 World Cup wins and Swede Ingemar Stenmark, who racked up 86 victories.
Shiffrin timed 51.09 seconds in the Semmering first run to lead by just 0.02sec ahead of Gisin.