Mikaela Shiffrin wins Winter Olympics slalom gold in emphatic fashion

American star Mikaela Shiffrin has cemented her place among the greats of alpine skiing after winning Olympic gold in the slalom in emphatic fashion.

Twelve years after winning the title in Sochi as an 18-year-old, Shiffrin stormed to victory with a total time of 1:39:10, an extraordinary 1.50 seconds off second place to become a three-time Olympic champion.

The 30-year-old put herself in first place with a time of 47.13 seconds in the first round at the Olympia delle Tufane, 0.82 seconds ahead of second-placed Lena Dwyer.

The German was the only skater to finish within a second of Shiffrin, but she cleared the first gate on her second run to put herself out of medal contention.

That left Shiffrin with an exhibition run for the gold medal and she completed the race in 51.97 seconds.

“I came today to ski. I wanted to do a couple of runs with really strong slalom skiing. Now getting through that is a bit difficult,” she said.

“In the end, today, the appearance is what I wanted most. More than the medal. Now, to get a medal is unbelievable.”

Switzerland’s Camille Rast won the silver medal, while Sweden’s Anna Swen Larsson won the bronze.

Shiffrin, a seven-times world champion, looked in disbelief as she initially crossed the finish line but eventually sat on her skis, head in her hands, before pumping her fist towards the crowd.

Although the margin of victory this time was large, things have not gone as planned so far in Cortina.

She finished 11th in the giant slalom and an agonizing fourth in the team event alongside Olympic downhill champion Breezy Johnson.

In fact, since her giant slalom gold in Pyeongchang 2018, which followed giant slalom gold in Sochi 2014, the Olympics simply haven’t been a happy hunting ground for Shiffrin.

Four years ago in Beijing, she crashed out of the giant slalom and slalom just seconds after starting, completing six races but returning home without a medal.

But the most decorated alpine skier of all time claimed victory this time, putting years of Olympic suffering behind her to shine on the big stage.