In the lead after the first run, her closest rival Wendy Holdener eliminated on a fault just before her, Mikaela Shiffrin had to unfold her usual script, as during the giant Thursday: skis on the slope, solid run, finish line, victory, smiles, media.

But the immense American champion completely missed her second passage, with a very unusual 29th time, by multiplying the small faults and the approximations on a track which alternated between shadow and light.

"For me, slalom is the toughest discipline because it is the fastest, detailed the 27-year-old skier. You can't make mistakes, like the ones I made at the end of the giant "In the second run, the layout was completely different. I tried to execute the right plan, it wasn't perfect, but that's also because Laurence (Saint-Germain) was incredible."

"No more energy at all"

Even with a very bad passage, the 27-year-old American won her third medal in Méribel after the silver in the super-G last week and the gold in the giant on Thursday.

It is his 14th podium in 17 starts in six editions of the World Championships, a record for the modern era, just behind the 15 medals of the German Christl Cranz in the 1930s, when the Worlds were annual.

The American Mikaela Shiffrin in Méribel on February 18, 2023 © Jeff PACHOUD / AFP

The Colorado skier, medalist for the sixth time in slalom (four titles and a bronze in addition to the silver of the day), seems to have overcome the unexpected departure of her historic coach Mike Day on Tuesday, which abruptly ended seven years of collaboration when the champion had told her of her desire to change methods at the end of the season.

But she could not overcome the physical fatigue of her fortnight and probably also the mental fatigue caused by this brutal separation.

"I felt all the emotions possible: disappointment, excitement, stress, triumph. I have no energy at all. (...) It was very hard to stay focused."

Her Worlds finished, the champion will resume, in March in Kvitfjell (Norway), the World Cup circuit and her hunt for the 86 victories of the Swede Ingemar Stenmark.

He only needs one success to equal the most emblematic record in world skiing.

Surprising Canada

On the top step of the podium, Laurence Saint-Germain displays a broad smile.

The Quebecer created the biggest surprise of these Worlds, she who had never done better than sixth in more than seven years of slalom career.

Canadian Laurence Saint-Germain in Méribel on February 18, 2023 © Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP

The Canadian skied on fire in the first run (third time) to achieve her feat.

“I would have been happy with a top 10 or top 5, she revealed, incredulous, at a press conference. When I finished and saw that I would be third at worst, I already I was a bit frozen, I wanted to be sure it was real. I didn't watch Mikaela Shiffrin's +run+, as it's my first podium, I was looking for my place, I didn't really know where to stand, I I was a little distracted. I never thought I'd beat her without her missing a door."

It offers Canada a surprising fourth medal in these World Championships, after James Crawford's title in the super-G, Cameron Alexander's bronze in the downhill and the bronze in the mixed team event.

"She's such a humble, respectful person. Again this morning, we were warming up, she congratulated me on my fourth place on the parallel. If I could have congratulated her in advance on her title of world champion , I would have done it!”, greeted the young Frenchwoman Marie Lamure (21), 16th.

Best tricolor, Nastasia Noens took 15th place after one of her last races, before retiring at the end of the season.

© 2023 AFP