Mikaela Shiffrin is staking her claim as the one to beat in the upcoming Winter Olympics, winning her second consecutive slalom race to start the 2025 World Cup season.

Shiffrin put together two strong runs Sunday to win the slalom on Sunday in Gurgl, Austria, topping Lara Colturi of Albania and Camille Rast, with a time of 1:48.11.

Colturi, the second-place finisher to Shiffrin last weekend in Levi, Finland, stood 1.23 seconds behind. Rast, who is the reigning champion in the event, was 1.41 back.

The win for Shiffrin extended her record number of World Cup victories to 103. She also triumphed in March in 2024-25 season-ending slalom race at Sun Valley, Idaho.

After the event, Shiffrin said she knew how tough the competition would be. She posted the fastest time in each run.

“I had to push so hard,” the American said. “I knew the others were pushing, so there’s no choice — you have to go.

“I was still stressed on the second run and in the end I’m so proud to pull off my best skiing again.”

Shiffrin is expected to race in both the slalom and giant slalom events next weekend as the competition shifts to Copper Mountain, Colo.

–Field Level Media