Rival Petra Vlhova Leads; Mikaela Shiffrin Finishes Way Behind at World Cup Grand Slalom Event

Star American alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin needs no introduction. Inarguably, she is one of the greatest skiers of our time. However, she failed to secure a medal at the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022.

Nevertheless, Shiffrin, with the heart of a champion, chose to pick herself back up after every setback. In that vein, she reminded the world why she is the best, as she remains on top of the overall World Cup standings.

With just six events left, Shiffrin’s lead is already over a hundred points over her closest rival Petra Vlhova.

Mikaela Shiffrin trailed Petra Vlhova in the first run

After the first run was over in the Giant Slalom, it was Petra Vlhova from Slovakia who led the board. Vlhova has been Mikaela Shiffrin‘s closest rival thus far. However, she had failed in the last event, which had led to Mikaela’s 100+ point lead.

As the first run came to an end, Vlhova led the board with a stellar 1:14.80 time, while Mikaela Shiffrin was in sixth place with 1:15.59. In fact, the difference between the two rivals was less than a second but counted for five whole places.

Consequently, Vlhova walked out of the event with a hundred points, while Shiffrin finished with a meager forty points. Thus, the difference now between the two rivals is that of fifty-seven points.

Moreover, there are still five events to go, so it is absolutely anybody’s game. Vlhova is fresh off a gold medal-winning performance at the Beijing Winter Olympics as well.

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However, there is another run that awaits the rivals on the icy slopes, and it could make things better or worse for either of the players.

Vlhova leads Shiffrin on another front

Despite being ahead of rival Petra Vlhova by over fifty points now, Mikaela Shiffrin trails the Slovak in total prize money won. Vlhova is ahead of Shiffrin in terms of World Cup prize money, while Shiffrin is a close second.

With $358,366 won so far, Petra stands on top of the overall prize money board. Shiffrin comes in a close second with $348,562. Sofia Goggia of Italy, who won the silver medal at the Beijing Winter Olympics, comes in third place.

In fact, the three women are dominating the leaderboards such that the fourth place holder trails them by over a hundred thousand dollars! With just a handful of events remaining in this season, there is no telling who will come out on top between Shiffrin and Vlhova.

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