Levi (Finland) (AFP)

Here we go again: Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States on Saturday won her first World Cup victory in the slalom of Levi, the 61st career success of the triple champion of the big crystal globe.

The Colorado skier does not intend to stop there. At the age of 24, Mikaela Shiffrin won in Finland the 41st slalom of her career, her favorite discipline, bringing her overall victory to 61 at the World Cup, reviving her hunt for world records.

The first run, however, did not take place ideally for the queen of the white circus, 13/100 ahead of last year's Slovakian dolphin Petra Vlhova. But this duel between the two best skiers currently did not continue in the second run, the Slovak leaving the blame and falling, leaving the field to Shiffrin.

"It's hard but she's coming back very quickly, I feel a little lucky to have won, but I feel good in my skiing too, so I'm happy," Shiffrin said after the race.

Vlhova offside, it's a real chasm that opened between the star Shiffrin and the closest competitors, relegated to almost two seconds: the Swiss Wendy Holdener finished 2nd at 1 sec 78 and the Austrian Katharina Truppe 3rd at 1 sec 94.

- Vonn and Stenmark in the sights -

For Wendy Hodener, this is the 23rd podium in slalom without ever getting on the first step. More than any other skier.

Victorious for the fourth time at Levi, Shiffrin is once again on the hunt for victory records.

Second of the giant Soelden (Austria) for the opening of the season at the end of October behind the New Zealand prodigy Alice Robinson (17 years), the American confirmed that she was indeed the queen of slalom with this 41st success. She has landed the small slalom globe these past three seasons and six times in the last seven years.

Shiffrin is more than ever in the footsteps of fellow countryman Lindsey Vonn, retired this year after his 82 wins and 20 crystal globes. In the longer term, the 24-year-old American has Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden, the holder of the all-time record with 86 wins.

Last season, the American had won 17 times in 26 races in history, becoming the first skier to win in the six alpine disciplines.

© 2019 AFP