The crowd of 21,500 ski racing fans was going wild at Killington Resort as Mikaela Shiffrin crested the hill to earn her 100th World Cup race at the Stifel Killington Cup on November 30. Shiffrin took the lead early in her first Giant Slalom (GS) run with a time of 55:78 seconds and held onto it after the initial runs of the day. She went into Run No. 2 with a sizeable lead and was within grasp of a momentous win in the final run of the day.
The energy and excitement was alive on this chilly Saturday. Many fans held signs cheering Shiffrin on to her 100th win. Cowbells and enthusiastic cheers rang out over the mountain as she came into view. She was just seconds away from an impressive milestone (she’d already broken the previously-held record of 86 World Cup wins). And then — a collective gasp as she took a nasty fall just a few gates shy of her big victory. Silence fell over the crowd as everyone waited with bated breath to see if she was okay.
The energy plummeted and celebration for Swedish skier Sara Hector, who took first place with a combined time of 1:53:08, was muted following Shiffrin’s disastrous crash. Zrinka Ljutik of Croatia (second place) and Camille Rast of Switzerland (third) joined Hector on the podium, both logging their first podium placements in the World Cup.
The course was icy and challenging, called “one of the toughest courses in the women’s circuit” and “basically a vertical ice rink” by commentators. Flat light made the second run particularly tough. Shiffrin’s devastating crash was hardly the first fall of the day and there were a number of DNFs. “No one has really figured out this snow except for Mikaela Shiffrin,” one of the commentators noted after the first run. “These are the toughest conditions I’ve ever seen here at Killington.”
Nineteen-year-old American Elisabeth Bocock lost her left pole during her second run but persevered and finished with one pole in what a commentator called “an incredible recovery.” Paula Moltzan (a UVM alumna sponsored by Lawson’s Finest Liquids, which named a beer after her) lost control and nearly fell in her second run, but she stayed upright and recovered, nabbing the lead at 1:54:52 (though not for long). Despite the difficult terrain, the American skiers stuck with it and did well overall, with Moltzan taking fifth place in GS and Nina O’Brien nabbing sixth. The American team embodied the phrase, “Nevertheless, she persisted.”
After a somber waiting period following the GS competition, cheers erupted again when Shiffrin was brought down the mountain in a sled and appeared to be conscious. Later, she posted a video on Instagram from her hospital bed at Rutland Regional Medical Center, panning over the deep puncture wound to her abdomen, which a press statement later said was unable to be stitched due to its depth. She was reported having difficulty walking and unable to either race or attend the next day’s slalom race (typically her best event), though without internal damage or serious injury. It has not yet been determined when she will return to the slopes to continue her pursuit of her 100th win.
The U.S. returned without Shiffrin on Sunday, December 1, for the Slalom event. Moltzan was the only U.S. skier to make it to the top 30 and earn a second run and, unfortunately, she also fell and did not finish. Her shoulder was dislocated but it was able to be reset and was determined not to require surgery. The press liaison reported that Moltzan was looking forward to returning to competition after a couple of weeks of rehab.
Rast of Switzerland took first place in Slalom, rounding out a fantastic Killington Cup showing by the 25-year-old skier. Anna Swenn Larsen of Sweden took second place in Slalom, followed by Switzerland’s Wendy Holdener.
It was a tough but exciting weekend, particularly for the American team. Organizers report an estimated 39,000 spectators attended from Friday night’s opening ceremonies through Sunday’s race. Saturday morning’s race kicked off with a parade of young skiers from ski clubs across Vermont, including GMVS in Waitsfield, some of whom may one day compete in World Cup races themselves.
