Paris (AFP)

The World Cup slalom on Tuesday in Semmering (Austria), the day after the giant, offers one last chance to American Mikaela Shiffrin to avoid a year without victory over her favorite discipline, which has never happened to her for eight years.

Before becoming the queen of the white circus (three big globes between 2017 and 2019) and winning in all disciplines, Mikaela Shiffrin was a talented and precocious slalomer.

It was between tight stakes that she conquered her first trophies, and it was there that she most quickly established her domination.

The American won her first slalom in December 2012 in Are (Sweden) at just 17 years old.

Since then, she has won annually, averaging over six slaloms per calendar year.

With 48 victories in total (out of her 67 World Cup successes), she already holds the record for men and women combined at 25, ahead of Swede Ingemar Stenmark (40).

Still empty-handed in 2020, seeing her fail Tuesday at Semmering would be a small event which can be explained by two factors.

The American first had a difficult year: the death of her father in February caused her to miss several races including a slalom, then the competitions were stopped because of the new coronavirus pandemic, winning three slaloms.

Above all, Shiffrin faces the progress of her Slovak rival Petra Vlhova, untouchable in slalom in 2020 with five wins in five races, including four ahead of the American and two since the start of the season in Levi (Finland).

Victorious eleven times since 2015 in the discipline, Vlhova has followed the same path as Shiffrin, whose year of birth she shares, going from pure slalomer to versatile skier, currently at the top of the general classification of the World Cup.

In the discipline, the other competitors are crushed by these two phenomena which have won the last 28 World Cup slaloms since the victory of the Swedish Frida Hansdotter in January 2017.

Only one other skier still in activity has ever won a slalom at the highest level: the Canadian Erin Mielzynski in March 2012, an eternity ago.

Victorious against the Courchevel giant on December 14, her first success of the season in four starts, Shiffrin arrives launched at Semmering to hope to avoid a blank year.

Program of the Women's World Cup in Semmering (Austria), French time:

Monday December 28: giant, 1st round at 10 a.m., 2nd round at 1 p.m.

Tuesday December 29: slalom, 1st round at 3.15 p.m., 2nd round at 6.30 p.m.

© 2020 AFP