Shiffrin 5th in 1st run as she chases Vonn’s wins record

KRANJSKA GORA, Slovenia (AP) — Mikaela Shiffrin has some work to do in the second run of a giant slalom if she’s going to match Lindsey Vonn’s women’s World Cup skiing record with her 82nd win.

Shiffrin stood fifth after the opening run, 0.31 seconds behind surprise leader Valerie Grenier of Canada, on Saturday.

Shiffrin has won five straight races across three disciplines — super-G, giant slalom and slalom — but struggled with an open course-set in the first leg.

Reigning world champion Lara Gut-Behrami stood second, 0.04 behind Grenier, and Italian GS standouts Federica Brignone and Marta Bassino were third and fourth, 0.16 and 0.24 behind, respectively.

Petra Vlhova, another top GS skier, was sixth, only 0.05 behind Shiffrin.

Grenier’s best finishes in her 89 previous World Cup races were fourth in this race last year and fourth in a super-G in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, in 2019.

If Shiffrin does surge into the lead in the second run she could move past Vonn in another giant slalom on the same course scheduled for Sunday.

Already with seven wins this season, Shiffrin is also quickly approaching Ingemar Stenmark’s overall record — between men and women — of 86 victories.

Vonn retired four years ago when injuries ended her pursuit of Stenmark’s record.

While there were hardly any American fans lining the Podkoren 3 course near the Italian border, there were plenty of spectators waving Slovenian and Slovakian flags.

The upper section was foggy but visibility improved the rest of the way down and snow conditions were decent.

Nina O’Brien, another U.S. racer, fell midway down but did not appear to be seriously injured.

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Andrew Dampf is at https://twitter.com/AndrewDampf

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