Zagreb, Croatia – American Mikaela Shiffrin  thrilled an overflowing crowd in Zagreb and millions watching across the world on television with a stunning 1.19-second Audi FIS Alpine World Cup slalom victory to take the prestigious Snow Queen Trophy and regain the World Cup slalom title lead.

“This is an amazing feeling. When I was little, I would put towels around my neck and run around my house like it was a cape on my back,” said Shiffrin, wearing the Snow Queen crown and cape. “Now, I have a real cape robe thing and I’m really excited to go home with that.”

At just 17-years-old, the wire-to-wire win rewrote history as Shiffrin became the first American to win two World Cup races in a single season before the age of 18. The Eagle, Colo. resident also became the youngest woman to win two World Cup slalom races in a single season since 1977. Zagreb boasted the biggest single race payday on women’s tour at 50,820 Swiss Francs (roughly $55,000).

“I was in the zone where you feel like your skiing well and you almost feel unstoppable,” Shiffrin added, speaking of her 1.19-second margin, which is huge in slalom. “If you win, you always want to win by more and that just means you’re always trying to ski better.”

Teammate Resi Stiegler, of Jackson Hole, Wyo., was ninth to return to the World Cup top 10 for the first time since suffering an ACL injury at the 2012 World Cup Finals.

“I’ve been working hard and it’s nice to put two runs together. The last couple of races I’ve had one good first run and an OK second run, but now it’s coming together,” said Stiegler. “I had good momentum last year, so I’ve just pretended like I didn’t get injured this year so I could keep that momentum going from the very beginning. I’ve also had great training in between back-to-back races so it’s been pretty easy to keep things moving in the right direction.”

With three Canadians also in the top ten, there were five North Americans in the elite group. Rising star Erin Mielzynski, of Guelph, Ontario, secured the second World Cup podium of her career by putting together two solid runs to finish third. Her teammates Marie-Michèle Gagnon, of Lac-Etchemin, Quebec, and Brittany Phelan, of Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, were eighth and 10^th, respectively.

“It’s amazing,” said the 22-year-old Mielzynski. “I wear my emotions on my sleeve and I knew I had to take some steps this year to get on the (podium). It’s great to have this to build my confidence and remind me what it takes. I just want to learn from every experience and I learned a lot from today.

“We had three Canadians in the top 10 and I’m so happy for ‘Mitch’ (Gagnon) and Britt, too,” Mielzynski added. “Now the men’s team can come and do the same thing (in Sunday’s slalom).”

Shiffrin now holds the World Cup slalom title lead by 24 points of Veronika Velez Zuzulova of Slovakia as Slovenian Tina Maze, how 26 points back of Shiffrin, did not finish. Shiffrin, Lindsey Vonn and Julia Mancuso now sit 6-7-8 in the overall standings behind leader Maze.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
Audi FIS Alpine World Cup
The Snow Queen – Zagreb, Croatia – Jan. 4, 2013
Women’s Slalom