Are, Sweden – Four-time overall World Cup alpine ski racing champion Lindsey Vonn was in the hunt to add to her 1,808 point total in Saturday’s World Cup slalom in Are, Sweden, but skied out a few gates from the finish as friend Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany took the win. Solvakia’s Veronika Zuzulova finished in second while Canada’s Marie-Michele Gagnon earned a bronze medal for the first World Cup podium finish of her career.
Gagnon’s podium follows a historic result for Canada’s women’s technical team after Erin Mielzynski, of Guelph, Ontario, won last week’s slalom in Ofterschwang, Germany – the first Canadian World Cup victory in ladies’ slalom since 1971. Gagnon, of Lac-Etchemin, Quebec., was fifth in Ofterschwang, tying her previous best result in World Cup slalom, and was ready to make her move onto the podium Saturday.
“Finally,” said Gagnon, 22. “I’ve been wanting a podium, its been a goal for the whole season and I’m so happy it’s finally here and having Erin break the ice last weekend, it really shows you can do it from anywhere and there’s no pattern you have to get through to win and you can do it any day.”
After Saturday’s race Gagnon is ranked 10th in the world in slalom.
“We are really happy, it’s a great result for Mitch (Gagnon). It’s a great result for the team,” said Canada’s women’s head coach, Hugues Ansermoz. “In one week two girls (on the podium). I think everybody is really, really happy.”
Mikaela Shiffrin, who like Vonn hails from the Vail area in Colorado, tied for ninth with Sweden’s Anna Swenn-Larsson a mere 0.39 seconds out of first place in a tight field as wind swept the slalom course in Are. It was Shiffrin’s fourth Audi FIS Alpine World Cup top 10 of the season and earned her a trip to the World Cup Finals in her rookie season.
“I’m really excited about racing in Schladming,” Shiffrin said, referencing the Austrian site of the World Cup finals. “It feels good to be top 25 in the world, but honestly, I’ve been dreaming about winning World Cup races since I was five years old.
“Sometimes it feels like, ‘man, it’s about time’ and I have to take a step back and realize that some of these girls have been the fastest skiers in the world for ten years, so I need to fight every single run. It’s hard but it’s also really exciting.”
OFFICIAL RESULTS
Audi FIS Alpine World Cup
Are, Sweden – Mar. 10, 2012
Women’s Slalom
| Rank | Bib | Name | Year | Nation | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total Time | FIS Points |
| 1 | 1 | HOEFL-RIESCH Maria | 1984 | GER | 56.19 | 53.66 | 1:49.85 | 0.00 |
| 2 | 3 | ZUZULOVA Veronika | 1984 | SVK | 55.84 | 54.02 | 1:49.86 | 0.06 |
| 3 | 13 | GAGNON Marie-Michele | 1989 | CAN | 56.21 | 53.75 | 1:49.96 | 0.61 |
| 4 | 9 | BORSSEN Therese | 1984 | SWE | 56.42 | 53.68 | 1:50.10 | 1.39 |
| 5 | 20 | CURTONI Irene | 1985 | ITA | 56.46 | 53.67 | 1:50.13 | 1.55 |
| 6 | 10 | HANSDOTTER Frida | 1985 | SWE | 57.05 | 53.09 | 1:50.14 | 1.61 |
| 6 | 6 | SCHILD Marlies | 1981 | AUT | 56.15 | 53.99 | 1:50.14 | 1.61 |
| 8 | 7 | MAZE Tina | 1983 | SLO | 56.29 | 53.88 | 1:50.17 | 1.78 |
| 9 | 27 | SWENN-LARSSON Anna | 1991 | SWE | 57.25 | 52.99 | 1:50.24 | 2.17 |
| 9 | 18 | SHIFFRIN Mikaela | 1995 | USA | 56.21 | 54.03 | 1:50.24 | 2.17 |