Are, Sweden – Teenager Mikaela Shiffrin will return home to Eagle, Colo. for the holidays with the ultimate Christmas present, her first Audi FIS Alpine World Cup victory, after taking a slalom win under the lights in Are on Thursday night.

“I was just trying to fly,” said Shiffrin, only 17 years old. “It wasn’t two perfect runs but it was two fast runs. Icouldn’t imagine what winning (a World Cup race) would feel like. I only knew the feeling of knowing you’ve skied your best.”

Shiffrin came back from a .15-second deficit to ski a literally flawless second run and post a .29-second win over Sweden’s Frida Hansdotter. She became the third youngest American to win an alpine World Cup behind Kiki Cutter and Judy Nagel. Diann Roffe was also 17 when she won her first World Cup, Tamara McKinney and Cindy Nelson won at 18, an Barbara Ann Cochran, Phil Mahre and Julie Parisien at 19. Lindsey Vonn, who is still sitting out the World Cup, was 20 for her first World Cup victory.

“I met Mikaela last summer and she is indeed a great kid with a wonderful ski future in front of her. I am sure that we are going to see many more victories from Mikaela,” said Cutter, who in 1968 became both the youngest and the first American to win a World Cup in the Oslo slalom. “I really did not realize what  a big deal it was to win the first World Cup of any American. But when I got off the plane Billy Kidd congratulated me and I thought that was pretty cool. Plus, I met King Olaf and that was huge – a little girl from Bend (Ore.) meeting a king – doesn’t get much better than that!”

The win boosted Shiffrin into the Audi FIS Alpine World Cup slalom lead by 22 points over Germany’s Maria Hoefl-Riesch going into the holiday break. She is 11th overall.

“My only focus is just to ski my best every day. I’ll be happy with a World Championship medal or a 15th place, as long as I’m skiing my best,” added Shiffrin.

Austrian Marlies Schild, the reigning slalom world champion, will not defend her title in February after tearing ligaments in her right knee in a crash during a training run leading up to Thursday’s slalom, according to a statement released by the Austrian Ski Federation (OSV).

“Marlies will now undergo surgery in Innsbruck and will need at least three weeks before starting intensive rehab,” the OSV said of Schild, 31, who is one victory shy of Swiss racer Vreni Schneider’s record of the 34 World Cup slalom wins. An MRI completed in Innsbruck confirmed a tear to Schild’s left medial collateral ligament (MCL). Rehabilitation is expected to take at least three months, leaving Schild out of contention for the 2013 World Championships scheduled for Feb. 4-17 in Schladming, Austria.

“I hit a roll and caught some air, landing on my back. My ski also got caught while crashing and I feel pain in my right knee and back at the moment,” Schild said following the crash.

The World Cup women will be back in action for a giant slalom and slalom Dec. 28-29 in Semmering, Austria, outside Vienna.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
Audi FIS Alpine World Cup
Are, Sweden – Dec. 20, 2012
Women’s Slalom